PAS  SIN 
LEGIONS 


GIFT  ©F 

V      ISS      \)nlois)Q      nc 


THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK    •    BOSTON   •    CHICAGO  •    DALLAS 
ATLANTA   •    SAN   FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &   CO.,  LIMITED 

LONDON  •    BOMBAY  •    CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  LTD. 

TORONTO 


D  *  - 


•  •     •.-  •', 
..  .  •*..  •  .•  •   „ 

•        •       Jo        •      •  , 


' 


THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

HOW  THE  AMERICAN  RED  CROSS  MET  THE 

AMERICAN  ARMY  IN  GREAT  BRITAIN 

THE  GATEWAY  TO  FRANCE 


BY 

GEORGE  BUCHANAN  FIFE 


Jl3eto  gorfe 

THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

1920 

All  rights  reserved 


A  '1 

V 


COPYRIGHT,  1920, 
BT  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published,  October,  1920 


PREFACE 

The  exhilaration  and  incentive  which  came  of  service  at 
the  front,  of  contact  with  actual  warfare  and  the  sharing  of 
adventures  and  dangers  with  fighting  troops  were  denied  to 
the  American  Red  Cross  staff  in  Great  Britain.  But,  for 
all  that,  its  work  never  once  lacked  a  superb  inspiration  nor 
was  it  devoid  of  moments  of  sheer  drama. 

Its  service  lay  back  of  the  lines,  among  those  either  "  on 
the  way  up  "  —  for  a  million  American  soldiers  passed 
through  England  on  their  long  journey  to  the  battle  zones 
—  or  on  leave  or  returning,  wounded  and  worn,  from  the 
firing  line.  To  these  men  it  ministered  in  many  ways 
which  are  past  forgetfulness. 

In  a  war  extending  over  so  vast  a  theatre  and  for  so  long 
a  time,  the  activities  of  the  several  American  Red  Cross 
Commissions  abroad  must  often  have  been  identical  in  both 
intent  and  execution.  The  aim  of  the  writer,  therefore, 
has  been  rather  to  avoid  such  coincidental  details  of  historv 

•> 

and  helpfulness  and  to  narrate  those  achievements  which 
distinguished  the  work  in  Great  Britain,  those  which,  in  the 
swift  emergency  preceding  them,  in  their  setting  and  their 
drama  are  without  counterpart  in  the  chronicle  of  any  other 
Red  Cross  effort  in  Europe. 

It  has  not  been  possible,  in  recounting  these  narratives, 
to  present  the  names  of  all  those  who  had  a  part  in  the 
work,  but  this  can  take  nothing  from  the  heart  and  high 
pride  with  which  their  service  was  given  nor  from  their 
share  in  a  great  achievement. 

The  writer  wishes  to  make  grateful  acknowledgment  to 
many  members  of  the  staff  for  aid  in  the  compilation  of  this 
volume,  for  access  to  archives  and  to  other  written  records 
whose  artistry  inspired  him  not  a  little. 

G.  B.  F. 

40,  Grosvenor  Gardens, 
London,  }  June,  1919. 


r  A  ^ 

O  U  o  4-  -w  . 


CONTEXTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

PREFACE    v 

I    A  CALL  THROUGH  THE  STORM 

II    THE  LESSON  OF  THE  TUSCANIA 25 

III  WHEN  THE  COMMISSION  WAS  BORN 47 

IV  THE  WORD  THAT  CAME  IN  MARCH 74 

V     ALONG  THE  L.  O.  C 90 

VI    WHERE  A  MILLION  MEN  WENT  BY 113 

VII  THE  INCOMING  LEGIONS  AT  LIVERPOOL     ....  119 

VIII    A  DRAMA  IN  FINANCE 139 

IX    THE  "  SHEPHERD  "  AT  LIVERPOOL 167 

X  CROWNED  HEADS  AND  MERRY  MEN  AT  DARTFORD     .  179 

XI  THE  MIRACLE  OF  ROMSEY  AND  SARISBURY  COURT     .  194 

XII  THE  WATER-GATE  TO  FRANCE  —  SOUTHAMPTON     .  219 

XIII  "  THE    FLYING    SQUADRON  '     AND    SOME    OF    ITS 

FLIGHTS 230 

XIV  A  ROYAL  "BERTH-DECK" 249 

XV    THE  CLUBMEN  OF  MORN  HILL 265 

XVI    HERE  AND  THERE  IN  BRITAIN 280 

XVII  THE  BLUEJACKETS  OF  CARDIFF  AND  PLYMOUTH  .     .  294 

XVIII  WITH  THE  ARMY  TO  ARCHANGEL  .......  303 

XIX  THE  UNBREAKABLE  LINK  WITH  "HOME"    .     .     .  322 

XX  A  SOLDIER'S  JOKE  —  AND  WHAT  CAME  OF  IT!  .     .  338 

XXI    THE  PICTURE'S  THE  THING! 357 

XXII  VALEDICTORY                                                     .     .     .364 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


A    Red    Cross    "  Tank "     on    Canteen    Service    in    Lon- 
don     Frontispiece 

FACING 

PAGE 

Romsey,  the  Red  Cross  Hospital  which  was  Entirely  Built 

by  Passing  Detachments  of  American  Soldiers  ...     30 

"  The  Great  Hall "  of  the  Royal  Law  Courts  of  England 

turned  into  a  Lodging  House  for  American  Sailors     .     81 

The  Red  Cross  "  Bulletin  "  on  the  Wall  of  the  Pilgrim  Fa- 
thers' Church  at  Immingham Ill 

A  New  Use  for  a  Building  in  Southampton  Nine  Hundred 

Years  Old 161 

American  Soldiers  from  German  Prison  Camps  Received  by 

President  Wilson  at  Buckingham  Palace 210 

Convalescent   American    Soldiers   Attending   a   Red   Cross 

Concert  at  Tottenham  Palace 261 

The  American  Red  Cross  Bringing  the  News  of  the  Armis- 
tice to  Dartford  Hospital 311 


THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

CHAPTER  I 

A  CALL  THROUGH  THE  STORM 

ABEITISH  destroyer  raced  into  the  Harbor  of  Belfast 
one  Sunday  night.  There  had  been  no  word  of  her 
coming  nor  why  she  came.  Save  for  a  single  flash  of  her 
code  number  when  she  raised  the  headlands  of  the  guarded 
Lough,  she  showed  no  lights.  She  swept  in  toward  the 
upper  roadstead  as  if  she  wore  her  somberness  for  a  token. 

The  Coastwatcher  on  the  headland,  wondering  why  she 
had  sent  no  wireless  and  what  had  brought  her  off  patrol, 
conned  her  with  his  glass  as  she  sped  by.  But  with  the  dis- 
tance and  the  swirling  mist  it  yielded  him  little.  His  brief 
report  to  the  Naval  Base  told  all  he  knew : 

"  His  Majesty's  Torpedo-boat  Destroyer  Mounsey  pass- 
ing in  at  full  speed.  No  signals." 

The  perplexed  officers  at  Belfast  headquarters  read  the 
message  again  and  again.  The  Mounsey?  Why  was  she 
running  in,  and  without  so  much  as  a  spark  of  warning  ? 
"  No  signals  "  meant,  of  course,  that  her  wireless  was  dead. 
"  At  full  speed  '  was  reassuring,  but  —  And  there  every- 
thing save  conjecture  stopped  short. 

In  those  days  —  it  was  early  in  October,  19 18 -—they 
knew  that  any  one  of  countless  things  could  have  happened. 
So  the  base  emergency  detail  was  hastily  turned  out  to 
await  the  destroyer's  coming. 

As  the  Mounsey  swung  slowly  toward  the  guiding  lan- 
terns on  the  dock-end,  her  searchlight  suddenly  flooded  the 


2  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

entrance  way  and  a  voice  from  her  bridge  hailed  through  a 
megaphone.  The  wind  caught  the  words  and  flung  them 
landward  in  ragged  sentences: 

"  Ashore  there !  This  is  the  Mounsey  —  Lieutenant 
Craven  —  we've  got  a  lot  of  American  soldiers  —  off  the 
Otranto  —  wrecked  at  the  head  of  the  North  Channel  this 
morning  —  Can  we  come  in  there  ?  ' 

In  response  to  the  answer  that  flew  back  to  her,  the  Moun- 
sey thrust  her  high  thin  bows  abreast  of  the  dock  and,  as 
she  glided  into  her  berth,  the  voice  called  again,  cutting 
sharply  through  the  rising  undertone  of  noise  and  mooring 
orders : 

"  I'm  sorry,  but  the  men  are  in  bad  shape  from  exposure 
and  some  are  injured.  We'll  need  stretchers  to  take  them 
overside.  They  can't  walk." 

In  the  light  of  the  flares,  as  the  destroyer  drew  past  them, 
those  on  the  pier  could  see  the  huddle  of  men  upon  her 
narrow  decks,  and  their  drawn,  blank  faces. 

"  How  many  have  you  aboard  ?  '  the  Medical  Officer 
called  up,  his  hands  cupped  about  his  mouth. 

"  Between  five  and  six  hundred,  I  think,  Sir,"  was  the 
amazing  reply.  "  About  half  of  them  are  Americans. 
The  rest  are  part  of  the  crew  of  the  Otranto  and  some 
French  sailors.  We'll  need  all  the  help  you  can  give  us." 

Before  the  first  of  the  destroyer's  mooring  lines  had  been 
made  fast,  the  senior  officer  in  the  little  group  upon  the  dock 
turned  like  a  flash  to  one  of  his  Lieutenants  and  gave  swift, 
concise  instructions : 

"  Go  to  the  telephone  and  call  through  to  the  American 
Consul  and  tell  him  about  these  soldiers.  Then  get  the 
American  Red  Cross.  Say  that  we  are  sending  the  sick 
men  to  the  hospitals  in  the  city  and  the  others  to  Victoria 
Barracks  -  -  all  those  who  are  able  to  go.  Ask  the  Red 
Cross  to  bring  clothing  and  blankets  to  the  barracks  as  soon 
as  possible." 

The  task  of  getting  those  six  hundred  half-frozen  men 
ashore  was  a  long  and  far  from  easy  one.  While  a  major- 


A  CALL  THROUGH  THE  STORM 

ity  of  them  could  hobble  and  stumble  down,  many  had  to 
be  carried.  There  were  broken  legs  and  arms  among  them 
and  more  than  two  score  were  already  ablaze  with  fever. 
Some,  so  benumbed  they  could  not  move,  had  to  be  cut 
away  from  the  ropes  with  which  they  had  lashed  them- 
selves to  the  destroyer's  deck-gear  to  prevent  being  washed 
overboard.  Few  of  the  men  were  more  than  half  clad, 
others  were  even  without  shoes  and  all  had  been  drenched 
to  the  skin  for  a  dozen  hours  in  an  icy  gale. 

Thus  it  was  that  the  Mounsey  brought  in  the  first  news 
of  the  disaster  and  its  token  in  the  wretched  men  crowded 
upon  her  decks.  And  only  a  few  leagues  away  to  the 
North,  their  own  great  ship,  the  troop-transport  Oiranio, 
with  nearly  five  hundred  of  their  comrades  left  helpless 
aboard  her,  had  been  beaten  to  pieces  on  a  reef  of  the 
Scottish  Coast. 

They  had  last  seen  her  that  morning  with  a  great  hole 
in  her  side,  hopelessly  unmanageable,  lurching  away  in  the 
roar  and  smother  of  a  storm.  They  had  seen,  too,  those 
hundreds,  clinging  along  the  rail,  staring  after  them  as 
the  destroyer  turned  and  made  off  through  the  welter. 
What,  after  that,  had  become  of  the  ship  and  those  upon 
her  they  knew  nothing.  They  scarcely  knew  how  they 
themselves  had  won  through  it  all.  There  had  been  the 
collision  of  the  transports  in  the  storm,  a  flash  of  dismay 
throughout  the  ship  and  as  swift  a  realization  of  what 
that  death-blow  meant.  Then  the  instant  of  tense  hope- 
fulness when  the  destroyer  appeared  through  the  mist  and 
hailed  them.  After  that  had  come  their  uncertain  leap  to 
her  deck  as  she  swung  for  a  daring  instant  alongside  —  so 
many  had  leaped  and  failed  to  make  it  —  the  clutching 
scramble  for  whatever  offered  a  hand-hold  against  the 
heave  and  fling  of  that  desperately  cluttered  space,  and 
last  of  all,  the  struggling  away  in  the  roaring  gale  with  the 
seas  breaking  over,  hour  after  hour,  and  almost  wrenching 
them  out  of  their  lashings. 

It  had  been  impossible  for  the  Mounsey  to  send  news 


4  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

either  of  her  coming  or  of  the  collision  which  had  wrecked 
the  Otranto  as  her  wireless  had  been  carried  away  by  some 
of  the  overhanging,  swaying  top-hamper  of  the  troopship 
in  a  hazardous  brush  against  her  side.  Yet  the  American 
Red  Cross  in  Belfast,  deprived  as  it  was  of  all  chance  for 
immediate  preparation  to  meet  such  an  emergency  and  to 
care  for  those  men  in  their  peculiar  distress,  was  not  only 
ready  but  made  a  response  as  swift  and  efficient  as  if  this 
disaster  and  its  verv  hour  had  been  foreseen. 

€/ 

The  hastily  sent  news  of  the  Mounsey's  arrival  reached 
the  Red  Cross  while  the  first  of  the  shipwrecked  men  were 
limping  down  the  gangplank,  and  within  five  minutes  there- 
after three  big  motor  cars,  held  in  readiness  night  and  day 
for  any  service,  had  been  summoned  and  were  speeding  to 
its  warehouse  for  supplies.  It  had  asked  only  one  ques- 
tion :  "  How  many  men  are  there  to  be  cared  for  ? ' 

This  much  of  its  work  afoot,  the  Red  Cross  at  once 
turned  its  attention  to  the  stricken  Otranto  in  effort  to 
learn  what  had  happened  to  her.  Naval  headquarters 
knew  only  the  fact  that,  with  hundreds  still  aboard  her,  she 
had  driven  off  into  the  storm,  out  of  control  and  probably 
foundering.  The  Mownsey,  courageous  as  she  was,  had 
accounted  for  only  six  hundred  of  her  company;  it  had 
numbered  more  than  a  thousand  when  she  left  the  States. 

One  after  another  the  Red  Cross  called  its  four  emer- 
gency stations  along  the  northern  coast  of  Ireland,  but  there 
was  no  word  of  the  Otranto.  They  had  not  even  heard  of 
the  disaster.  Not  so  much  as  a  grating  had  come  ashore. 
The  storm  was  still  raging  from  the  west.  Perhaps  some- 
thing might  be  known  on  the  Scottish  shore. 

But  this  alike  was  a  futile  questing.  Communication 
by  wire  was  possible  with  only  a  few  ports  and  these  had 
no  news.  It  seemed  almost  a  certainty  that  the  Otranto 
had  gone  down. 

Mr.  Hunter  Sharp,  the  American  Consul  in  Belfast,  im- 
mediately after  the  naval  authorities  had  telephoned  him 


A  CALL  THROUGH  THE  STORM  5 

of  the  disaster  and  the  Mounsey's  rescue,  called  the  Red 
Cross,  and,  learning  that  the  work  of  relief  was  already 
under  way,  hastened  to  the  barracks. 

He  found  the  American  soldiers  gathered  in  the  large 
military  gymnasium,  a  bedraggled,  woe-begone  lot.  They 
were  rigged  out  in  whatever  odds  and  ends  of  clothing  the 
men  of  the  destroyer  and  the  barracks  troops  had  been  able 
to  furnish  them  Some  were  half  naked  and  wrapped  in 
blankets  while  others  were  shivering  in  their  still  wet  uni- 
forms. Miserable  as  they  were,  their  faces  brightened  as 
they  thronged  up  to  shake  hands  with  Mr.  Sharp  when  he 
told  them  who  he  was. 

"  And  I've  also  come  to  tell  you,"  he  added,  "  that  the 
American  Red  Cross  is  here  in  Belfast  and  will  be  at  the 
barracks  in  a  very  few  minutes  to  do  everything  for  you 
and  bring  you  whatever  you  need." 

The  men  who  crowded  about  him  were  frankly  incred- 
ulous. It  wasn't  so  strange  to  find  the  American  Consul, 
because  there  had  to  be  one  everywhere,  but  the  American 
Red  Cross  in  this  out  of  the  way  place  — !  "  Sure  it's  the 
American  Red  Cross  ? '  Yes,  Mr.  Sharp  was  quite  sure. 

"  Wait  and  you'll  see,"  he  suggested  to  them. 

"  Say,  fellers,  three  cheers  for  the  Consul  and  the  Amer- 
ican Red  Cross !  ' 

It  was  a  lanky  soldier  from  Georgia,  muffled  to  his  chin 
in  a  brown  blanket,  who  cried  it  and  the  earnest  reply  was 
such  a  hoarse,  uncanny  sound  that  it  brought  even  some 
stolid  British  soldiers  to  the  door  in  wonderment. 

That  the  summons  to  care  for  these  men  had  come  to  the 
Red  Cross  after  nine  o'clock  on  a  Sunday  night,  the  time 
one  associates  with  rest  from  activities  of  every  kind,  caused 
neither  consternation  nor  delay.  It  had  been  forearmed, 
equipped  against  any  day,  any  hour  of  service  and,  indeed, 
for  service  of  this  very  kind.  Its  warehouse  was  already 
stocked  with  every  necessity;  there  remained  only  the  de- 
tail of  transportation  and  this,  too,  had  been  pre-arranged. 


6  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  was  while  Mr.  Sharp  was  assuring 
the  amazed  men  that  the  Red  Cross  was  on  its  way  to  them 
that  the  three  cars,  loaded  with  food,  clothing  and  blankets, 
rolled  into  the  cobbled  driveway  of  the  barracks.  And  this 
within  an  hour  after  the  destroyer  had  set  the  first  men  on 
shore ! 

The  incredulousness  of  the  Americans  grew  rather  than 
diminished  as  they  watched  the  Red  Cross  men  bring  in 
the  packages  of  emergency  stores.  It  held  them  for  just 
an  instant  and  then  they  surged  forward,  tired  as  they  were, 
to  help  with  the  bundles  and  boxes.  A  squad  of  Royal 
Army  Medical  Corps  non-coms  and  orderlies  who  had  been 
told  off  to  attend  to  the  survivors,  aided  in  distributing 
the  supplies,  first  passing  out  thick  underwear,  socks, 
shirts  and  soft  slippers  to  every  man.  As  the  soldiers 
in  their  eagerness  pressed  about  the  orderlies  there 
were  smiles  upon  faces  which  had  not  known  them  for 
hours  and,  now  and  then,  even  the  unbelievable  sound  of 
laughter. 

In  a  twinkling  the  shivering  soldiers  were  stripping  off 
their  sodden  things  and  hurrying  into  the  dry  and  comfort- 
able clothing.  Many  of  them  did  not  even  try  to  make 
their  way  out  of  the  crowd.  They  undressed  and  dressed 
again  just  where  they  stood.  Then  came  the  biscuits,  the 
chocolate,  and  the  cigarettes.  It  was  the  cigarettes  prob- 
ably more  than  anything  else,  than  even  the  Red  Cross 
emblems  on  the  bales  of  supplies,  which  gave  the  finishing 
touch  to  conviction. 

"  Well,  I'm  damned  if  these  ain't  American  cigs ! '  is  a 
faithful  composite  of  the  welcome  they  received. 

One  of  the  men,  eating  chocolate  between  puffs  and 
taking  obvious  comfort  in  his  warm  greatcoat,  said,  as  his 
eye  ranged  over  the  gymnasium,  that  "  it  looked  to  him  as 
if  the  Red  Cross  had  been  sitting  up  just  waiting  for  'em.'' 
He  made  the  comment  to  Mr.  J.  Fred  Cleaver,  the  Ameri- 
can Red  Cross  representative  in  Belfast  who  was  at  the 


A  CALL  THROUGH  THE  STORM  7 

head  of  the  emergency  relief  service  and  had  brought  the 
supplies  to  the  barracks. 

"  Did  you  know  we  were  coming  ? '  the  soldier  added, 
with  a  twist  of  a  smile. 

"  No,  we  didn't,  and  we're  sorry  it  was  you,"  Mr. 
Cleaver  replied,  "  but  we  felt  that,  perhaps,  something  of 
this  kind  might  happen  some  day  through  storms  or 
submarines,  or  mines,  so  we  made  ready  for  it,  that's 
all." 

"  It's  mighty  lucky  then  that  we  got  into  Belfast,  isn't 
it  ? '  the  soldier  went  on  with  another  wry  smile. 

"  Yes,  it  is,  but  there  are  Bed  Cross  emergency  stations 
in  every  danger  zone  along  the  coast.  They  are  just  as 
well  equipped,  just  as  capable  as  this  one.  They've  been 
ready  to  answer  any  call  for  the  last  six  months.  You'd 
have  been  cared  for  every  bit  as  promptly  if  you'd  come 
ashore  at  any  one  of  them." 

"  Gee,  the  little  oF  Red  Cross !  " 

This  was  all  the  soldier  could  say  in  answer,  and  it  came 
after  a  long  and  thoughtful  pause,  but  there  was  a  whole 
heart  in  it. 

The  equipment  of  the  men  with  the  many  things  they  so 
much  needed  required  more  than  two  hours  and  several 
trips  of  the  motors  to  the  Red  Cross  storehouse  for  the 
additional  supplies.  While  the  distribution  was  going  on, 
Mr.  Cleaver  and  his  aides,  who  were  doing  all  they  could  to 
hearten  up  the  men  and  to  help  the  stiff  and  bruised  ones 
into  their  clothing,  discovered  that  a  number  of  them, 
through  exposure  or  injury  in  their  crashing  leap  to  the 
Mounsey's  deck,  were  in  need  of  medical  care.  These  were 
quickly  singled  out  and  removed  by  the  orderlies  to  the 
barracks  infirmary.  And  before  one  o'clock  came  around 
the  last  weary  man  in  the  big  gymnasium  had  rolled  him- 
self in  his  warm  blanket  and  was  fast  asleep. 

As  for  the  other  men,  fifty-five  of  them  in  all,  who  had 
been  taken  to  the  city  hospitals,  a  visit  disclosed  that  they 


8  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

were  in  no  immediate  need  of  Red  Cross  supplies  but  that 
these  might  be  provided  later. 

Thus  came  to  an  end  an  eventful  night  in  Belfast. 

From  the  fragmentary  stories  the  soldiers  had  related 
and  from  information  gained  from  the  men  of  the  de- 
stroyer, it  was  now  possible  to  construct  a  clear  narrative 
of  what  had  befallen  the  troopship,  at  least  up  to  the  time 
the  soldiers  were  taken  off  her. 

The  Otranto,  a  converted  British  auxiliary  cruiser,  doing 
duty  as  transport,  was  the  flagship  of  a  convoy  bringing 
American  troops  to  England.  On  this  voyage  she  carried 
a  detachment  of  694  officers  and  men,  most  of  them  from 
the  training  camp  at  Fort  Scriven,  near  Savannah, 
Georgia;  a  crew  of  approximately  400  and  also  thirty 
sailors  picked  up  from  the  boats  of  a  French  bark  she  had 
cut  down  in  mid-ocean. 

The  destination  of  the  convoy  was  Liverpool,  and  to 
reach  it  by  what  was  considered  the  least  dangerous  path, 
once  the  vessels  were  in  English  waters,  the  course  lay 
through  the  North  Channel,  a  narrow,  well  patrolled  pas- 
sage between  Scotland  and  Ireland. 

But  it  was  fated  the  Otranto  should  never  make  it. 
When  at  9  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  October  9,  the  squad- 
ron of  troopships  was  almost  at  the  Channel  entrance  and 
fairly  in  sight  of  the  northern  Irish  Coast,  a  ninety-mile 
gale  came  racing  out  of  the  west  and  overwhelmed  it. 
Under  the  terrific  impact  of  the  wind  and  the  sea,  the 
vessels  staggered  toward  the  opening,  striving  with  every 
ounce  of  steam  to  gain  it  and  the  calmer  waters  which  lay 
beyond.  And  all  would  have  passed  through  in  safety  if 
a  great  wave  had  not  disabled  the  'Steering  gear  of  the 
Kashmir,,  one  of  the  convoy. 

In  an  instant  she  was  out  of  control,  and  a  little  later 
the  sea  lifted  her  and  flung  her,  bow  on,  into  the  Otranto' s 
side. 

The  ponderous  blow,  delivered  directly  amidships,  cut  a 
wide  gash  in  the  cruiser  from  port  rail  to  waterline,  and 


A  CALL  THROUGH  THE  STORM  9 

drove  her  down,  with  the  Kashmir  grinding  into  the  wound, 
until  she  was  at  the  point  of  overturning.  But  the  sea  at 
last  wrenched  the  Kashmir  away  and  the  Otranto  slowly 
righted  herself,  only  to  lurch  deeply  into  the  turmoil  as 
she  filled. 

Although  the  firerooms  of  his  ship  were  flooded,  her 
engines  useless  and  she  now  utterly  unmanageahle,  Captain 
Ernest  G.  W.  Davidson,  the  Otranto' s  commander,  at  once 
ordered  the  Kashmir,  which  had  suffered  little  injury,  to 
make  all  speed  to  the  nearest  port. 

For  nearly  an  hour  the  Otranto  raced  with  the  gale,  her 
filling  holds  listing  her  until  her  port  rail  was  almost  awash. 
Every  hope  of  rescue  had  long  been  given  up  by  the  stoutest 
heart  when  suddenly  the  Mounsey  came  rolling,  plunging, 
driving  toward  them  through  the  smother.  She  had  caught 
a  wireless  call  for  help  and  sped  to  answer  it. 

Unmindful  of  every  risk,  her  commander,  Lieutenant  F. 
W.  Craven,  swung  his  little  craft  in  a  wide  arc  and  ran 
down  under  the  Otranto' s  lee.  Captain  Davidson  realized 
at  once  that  he  meant  to  come  alongside  and  attempt  a 
rescue  so,  with  a  first  brave  word  of  thanks,  he  signaled  to 
him  not  to  try  it  and  endanger  his  own  vessel  but  to  stand 
clear  as  the  transport  was  sinking. 

But  Lieutenant  Craven  paid  no  heed  to  the  message. 
Fighting  a  way  through  the  hurricane  and  the  towering 
seas  he  brought  the  Mounsey  abeam  of  the  Otranto  and  not 
more  than  fifty  yards  from  her. 

"  Lower  away  your  port  boats  empty,"  the  destroyer 
signaled.  "  Make  fast  so  they  float  alongside.  I'm  com- 

•  '         J5 

ing  in. 

With  the  first  words  of  the  message  Captain  Davidson 
understood.  It  meant  a  chance  for  some  of  the  men  —  a 
few,  perhaps  —  so  a  signal  fluttered  in  answer,  the  orders 
were  given  and  the  boats,  swaying,  leaping,  twisting  like 
new-caught  fish  upon  a  line,  came  down  the  transport's 
side. 

Then   the  Mounsey   crept   in.     Between  her   and  the 


10  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

Otranto  now  lay  a  protective  device,  frail  to  be  sure,  but 
still  a  safe-guard  —  the  boats  which  made  a  string  of 
fenders  along  the  menacing  steel  sides  of  the  lurching 
troopship.  For,  with  all  their  wild  plungings  as  the  seas 
caught  them,  they  would  serve  to  lessen  the  blows  when 
the  two  vessels  should  drive  together,  as  they  must,  with 
terrific  force,  once  the  destroyer  ventured  alongside. 

To  the  men  on  the  Otranto  it  seemed  to  take  the  Mounsey 
an  age  to  cross  that  narrow  span  of  water.  But  she  made 
it  at  last  and  as  she  crashed  into  the  line  of  lifeboats,  Lieu- 
tenant Craven  waved  to  the  men  along  the  troopship's  rail 
to  jump  down. 

Now  it  was  "  every  man  for  himself,"  and  they  began 
to  leap  the  instant  a  wave  lifted  the  destroyer  toward  them. 

There  were  those  whom  Fate  permitted  to  time  it  aright, 
there  were  others  who  fell  and  were  crushed  with  the 
splintering  boats ;  and  still  others,  who,  in  their  eagerness, 
sprang  into  a  churning  gap  of  water  when  the  two  vessels 
swung  apart.  But  during  those  heroic  moments  that  the 
Mounsey  clung  to  her  perilous  task,  demanding  the  utmost 
of  skill  and  coolness  to  prevent  her  own  destruction,  more 
than  six  hundred  leaped  into  safety  to  her  decks.  Others 
had  climbed  on  the  Otranto's  swaying  rail  and  were  ready 
to  follow,  but  a  wave  caught  the  destroyer's  bow  and  flung 
her  out  of  all  possible  reach,  so  she  had  to  sheer  away  to 
save  herself. 

Although  weighted  to  the  danger  point  by  the  number  of 
men  he  had  already  rescued,  Lieutenant  Craven  swung  his 
craft  about  and  started  once  more  to  come  up  with  the 
troopship.  But  the  boats  along  her  side  had  been  crushed 
into  uselessness  or  were  gone  entirely,  and  there  was  nothing 
left  to  fend  the  vessels  apart.  Another  attempt  would  risk 
even  those  who  had  been  taken  off.  So  the  Mounsey  was 
reluctantly  put  about  and  headed  away  out  of  the  tempest. 
And  the  last  signal  she  caught  from  the  Otranto' s  tilted 
bridge  was :  "  Thanks ;  good  luck !  ' 


A  CALL  THROUGH  THE  STORM  11 

The  men  at  the  Belfast  barracks  were  scarcely  awake 
next  morning  when  the  Red  Cross  people  arrived,  bringing 
additional  woolen  clothing,  tunics  and  greatcoats,  an  abun- 
dant supply  of  "  comfort  bags  '  containing  razors,  soap, 
towels,  toothbrushes  and  other  toilet  things,  and  a  cheering 
quantity  of  American  cigarettes  and  tobacco.  As  the  sol- 
diers had  left  the  Otranto  with  nothing  save  the  clothing 
in  which  they  stood  —  and  little  enough  of  that  in  so  many 
cases  —  the  "  comfort  bags  '  made  almost  as  much  of  a 
sensation  as  the  cigarettes  of  the  night  before.  No  amount 
of  explanation  could  overcome  the  wonderment  of  the  men 
at  the  readiness  with  which  their  wants  had  been  antici- 
pated. They  drew  the  things  out  of  the  bags  and  turned 
them  over  and  over  in  their  hands  as  if  not  quite  certain  of 
their  reality. 

"  It  sure  beats  me  how  you  did  it  all,"  said  one  of  the 
men.  "  We  knew  the  Red  Cross  was  over  in  France  look- 
ing after  the  fellers,  but " —  he  glanced  up  with  a  slow 
smile  from  the  safety  razor  he  was  putting  together-— "  I 
didn't  think  you  could  run  across  it  in  a  place  like  this  — 
any  more  than  I  expected  to  land  here  myself !  ' 

After  a  generous  breakfast  with  a  limitless  amount  of 
hot  coffee  which  the  British  militarv  authorities  served  to 

i/ 

them  in  the  gymnasium,  the  Americans  were  "  ready  for 
another  day ' '  and  by  noon  were  sufficiently  equipped  and 
rested  to  go  about  outdoors. 

In  the  meantime,  the  women  of  the  Red  Cross  branch  had 
set  out  at  an  early  hour  to  visit  again  the  sick  and  injured 
Americans  who  had  been  taken  to  the  several  city  hospitals. 
A  few  of  these  had  hurt  themselves  severely  in  leaping  to 
the  destroyer  and  all  were  suffering  the  effects  of  the  chill- 
ing exposure  they  had  undergone  and  to  which,  in  spite  of 
every  care,  twelve  of  them  succumbed  within  the  next  few 
days,  and  were  buried  on  October  llth  with  military 
honors. 

The  women  distributed  "  comfort  bags,"  chocolate  and 


12  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

fruit  to  those  whose  condition  permitted  it  and  afterward 
spent  a  busy  forenoon  writing  letters  for  the  ones  who  could 
not  do  it  for  themselves.  These  letters,  for  the  censor's 
good  reasons,  had  to  he  guarded  in  expression,  but  they 
sufficed  to  carry  the  word  overseas  that  somebody's  boy  had 
"  landed  safely  and  was  getting  on  fine,  don't  worry." 

With  the  coming  of  another  day,  the  Red  Cross  renewed 
its  search  for  tidings  of  the  Otranto.  Reports  from  the 
coast  stations  suggested  that,  with  the  set  of  the  gale,  what 
remained  of  the  troopship  and  her  men  would  be  driven 
toward  the  rocky  islands  fringing  the  Scottish  coast.  But 
as  the  storm  had  destroyed  many  lines  of  telegraphic  com- 
munication, nothing  definite  could  be  learned  from  Scot- 
land. 

News,  however,  came  at  last  from  a  Red  Cross  outpost 
on  the  northern  rim  of  Ireland.  The  Otranto  had  not  gone 
down  but  had  been  driven  upon  a  reef  off  the  west  coast  of 
the  Island  of  Islay  and  was,  in  all  likelihood,  a  total  wreck. 
Should  there  be  any  survivors,  which  was  reported  as 
scarcely  probable  in  such  a  storm,  they  would  be  in  need 
of  immediate  aid. 

This  information,  incomplete  as  it  was,  determined  the 
Red  Cross  to  dispatch  at  once  a  relief  expedition  to  Islay, 
for  there  was  a  possibility,  after  all,  that  among  those 
hundred  some  had  gained  the  shore. 

The  sole  prompt  means  of  reaching  the  island  lay  in  a 
venturesome  passage  of  the  North  Channel  through  the  gale 
which  was  still  sweeping  it.  By  reason  of  the  hazard  this 
involved,  Mr.  Cleaver  called  for  volunteers  to  go  with  him. 
When  these  had  enthusiastically  responded  an  appeal  was 
made  to  the  commander  of  the  Belfast  Naval  Base  for  a 
destroyer  to  take  the  Red  Cross  party  and  its  supplies  to 
Scotland  and  for  a  detail  of  Medical  Corps  orderlies  to 
assist  in  the  work  ashore.  It  was  thought  best  by  the 
naval  men  that  Buncrana,  a  Red  Cross  post  120  miles  north- 
west of  Belfast,  should  be  the  point  of  debarkation  as  the 


A  CALL  THROUGH  THE  STORM  13 

run  could  be  made  with  the  gale  instead  of  across  it  and 
give  more  hope  for  success. 

Efforts  to  telegraph  to  Buncrana  proving  fruitless,  the 
storm  having  now  thrown  down  almost  all  northern  wires,  it 
was  arranged  that  the  party,  with  its  supplies,  should  never- 
theless set  out  by  motor  without  delay.  Assurances  were 
given  that  a  destroyer,  fully  instructed,  would  be  in  readi- 
ness to  take  the  relief  party  aboard  when  it  should  reach  the 
northern  port. 

At  half  past  seven  o'clock  that  night  the  Ked  -Cross  expe- 
dition left  Belfast,  its  six  motor  cars  loaded  with  food, 
medical  supplies  and  comfort  necessities. 

After  six  hours  of  hard  going  over  the  stormy  roads, 
a  brief  halt  was  made  at  the  Red  Cross  emergency  station 
in  Londonderry  where  a  motor  lorry  filled  with  warm 
clothing  was  added  to  the  column.  Buncrana  was  reached 
shortlv  after  dawn.  Here  it  was  learned  that  the  naval 

c/ 

post  commander  had  already  dispatched  two  trawlers  for 
Islay  with  American  Red  Cross  stores  so,  in  all  haste,  the 
expedition,  its  supplies  and  a  detail  of  hospital  orderlies 
were  put  aboard  a  British  torpedo  boat  for  that  hopeful 
voyage. 

Wireless  reports  said  that  the  weather  had  "  somewhat 
moderated."  The  "  somewhat J  contributed  a  certain 
elasticity  to  the  term.  For  when,  at  noon,  the  vessel 
reached  Port  Charlotte,  eight  miles  across  the  island  from 
the  supposed  location  of  the  wreck,  she  found  the  two 
trawlers  from  Buncrana  anchored  well  out  and  still  unable 
to  put  ashore  any  of  the  Red  Cross  stores  they  had  brought. 

However,  at  one  o'clock,  as  the  wind  held  up  a  bit, 
those  on  the  torpedo  boat  decided  to  risk  a  landing.  But 
when  the  pinnace,  bearing  five  of  the  party  and  an  emer- 
gency outfit,  drew  near  the  narrow  beach,  it  was  found 
impossible  to  take  her  in.  The  wind  and  sea  were  high 
and  "  blowing  right  on  '  and  the  approach  to  the  beach, 
save  in  one  place,  perilous  with  rocks.  Still  determined, 


14  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

the  party  got  aboard  a  fishing  boat  moored  about  a  quar- 
ter of  a  mile  off-shore  in  the  hope  that  she  could  be  used 
in  landing,  but  this,  too,  was  out  of  the  question. 

By  this  time  a  number  of  the  inhabitants,  who  had 
gathered  to  watch  the  fortunes  of  the  party,  began  waving 
signals  and  soon  a  plucky  small  boat  put  off  from  the 
beach  and  by  making  several  exciting  trips  succeeded 
eventually  in  landing  every  one  wet  and  safe  in  Port 
Charlotte. 

The  first  inquiry  there  revealed  the  appalling  tragedy 
of  the  Otranto.  Of  the  hundreds  she  had  carried  away 
into  the  storm  only  twenty-one  —  seventeen  of  them 
American  soldiers  —  had  come  ashore  alive.  The  bodies 
of  the  others  were  still  being  flung  into  the  deep,  rocky 
gullies  along  the  shore  where  the  searchers  were  finding 
them  under  the  wreckage. 

The  Otranto  had  struck  on  a  jagged  ledge  in  Machrie 
Bay  about  a  mile  and  a  half  off  Kilchoman,  at  10:45 
o'clock  on  Sunday  morning  —  the  captain's  dented  watch 
was  found  to  have  stopped  at  11 :05.  For  a  few  hours 
she  had  withstood  the  tremendous  battering  of  the  sea  and 
then,  in  the  early  afternoon,  had  broken  in  two  and  gone 
to  pieces  on  the  reef. 

The  survivors,  several  of  them  badly  injured,  and  one, 
a  sailor  of  the  Otranto,  so  hurt  that  he  died  a  few  minutes 
after  rescue,  had  been  dashed  upon  the  rocks  beneath 
Kilchoman,  a  tiny  cliff  hamlet  on  the  wildest  part  of 
Islay's  western  coast.  There  the  neighboring  shepherds 
and  the  farmer-folk,  clustered  on  the  headland  to  watch 
the  transport's  slow  destruction,  had  gone  bravely  into 
the  crashing  surf  and  dragged  the  men  to  safety. 

As  it  was  necessary  to  seek  out  these  castaways  at  once 
and  provide  whatever  they  might  need,  a  motor  car  was 
readily  borrowed  and  the  medical  staff  of  the  Red  Cross 
expedition  sent  to  Kilchoman  with  medicines  and  emer- 
gency supplies.  The  remainder  of  the  party  and  the 
stores  were  then  landed  from  the  torpedo  boat,  a  tedious 


A  CALL  THROUGH  THE  STORM  15 

and  difficult  task  in  the  gale,  and  a  base  of  Ked  Cross 
operations  established   at  Port   Charlotte. 

The  physicians  drove  at  top  speed  to  Kilchoman  and 
there  found  six  American  soldiers.  They  had  come  ashore 
more  dead  than  alive.  Only  one  of  these,  whose  arm  was 
broken,  had  been  able,  eventually,  to  walk;  the  men  and 
women  of  the  hamlet  had  carried  the  others  on  their  backs 
up  the  long,  steep  paths  from  the  water's  edge. 

Although  Kilchoman's  resources  were  few  —  the  entire 
settlement  consisted  of  a  church,  three  'dwellings  and  a 
school-house  —  everything  possible  in  that  remote  and 
primitive  region  h^d  been  done  for  the  survivors.  They 
had  been  attended  by  the  British  medical  officer  of  the 
island,  two  were  in  the  manse  of  the  Reverend  Donald 
Grant,  the  Padre  of  Islay,  and  four  in  cottages  close 
beside  his  weather-beaten  church.  Slender  of  means  as 
they  were,  the  people  of  this  small  community  had  made 
unhesitating  sacrifice,  not  only  in  taking  in  and  nursing 
the  sick  but  providing  as  many  of  the  survivors  as  they 
could  with  clothing  which  it  demanded  not  a  little  unself- 
ishness to  spare. 

Yet  self-denial  had  gone  even  further  than  that.  The 
members  in  one  family  in  Kilchoman  actually  slept  in  a 
barn  so  that  the  comfortable  quarters  in  their  two-roomed 
house  might  be  given  to  the  Americans  they  were  har- 
boring. 

It  is  quite  impossible  to  say  too  much  of  the  humanity 
of  all  these  peasant  people,  of  their  readiness  to  accept 
any  hardship  in  the'  name  of  mercy,  of  the  gentle,  steadfast 
nursing  they  gave  the  soldiers,  virtually  bringing  them 
back  to  life. 

The  intention  of  the  Red  Cross  was  to  embark  for  Ire- 
land all  of  the  survivors  who  we-re  able  to  make  the  journey, 
but  it  was  found  that  those  at  Kilchoman  were  in  no  con- 
dition to  be  moved.  So,  after  distributing  clothing, 
medicaments  and  other  immediately  needed  supplies,  and 
having  a  cheering  talk  with  each  of  the  men,  the  two 


16  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

physicians  hastened  a  few  miles  southward  along  the  coast 
to  another  cliff  village  whither  eight  of  the  rescued,  six 
Americans,  a  British  naval  lieutenant  and  one  of  the 
Otranto' s  engineers  had  been  taken  for  shelter. 

These  men,  although  much  knocked  about,  were  in  fairly 
good  shape  and  the  Red  Cross  conveyed  them  to  Port 
Charlotte  late  that  afternoon  where  they  we-re  fitted  out 
with  clothing  from  the  newly  established  base.  In  the 
evening,  accompanied  by  a  Red  Cross  physician,  they 
were  put  aboard  the  torpedo  boat,  which  conveyed  them 
to  Ireland. 

So  far,  twelve  of  the  Americans  had  been  accounted  for. 
The  remaining  five  were  reported  to  be  at  a  village 
thirteen  miles  away  over  the  worst  roads  in  the  United 
Kingdom.  And  there  the  Red  Cross  found  them,  with  a 
lucky  stoker  of  the  troopship  in  the  party  and  all  meas- 
urably cheerful  and  uninjured..  Beyond  providing  them 
with  suitable  clothing  and  comforts  and  leaving  a  stock 
for  future  use,  there  was  little  for  the  Red  Cross  to  do 
for  these  men  as  an  American  Army  officer  had  arrived  to 
take  charge  of  them. 

In  their  talks  with  the  Red  Cross  men  the  survivors  on 
Islay  were  able  to  take  up  the  drama  of  the  Otranto  where 
those  who  leaped  in  safety  to  the  Mounsey's  deck  had  left 
it.  Few  had  clear  recollection  or  understanding  of  how 
they  got  ashore,  except  that  "  they  had  paddled  to  keep 
their  heads  up ?  and  had  been  buffeted  in  with  the 
wreckage  swirling  about  them. 

After  the  Mowisey,  unable  to  take  any  more  men  aboard, 
had  steamed  away  from  the  transport  that  Sunday  morn- 
ing, those  who  watched  her  go  resigned  themselves  to 
chance.  It  was  all  that  was  left  for  them.  The  remain- 
ing lifeboats  could  not  be  launched  and  the  men  preferred 
to  stay  by  the  ship  rather  than  risk  that  chance  and  face 
almost  certain  death  by  going  over  her  side.  So  the 
Otranto  reeled  ahead  in  the  grasp  of  the  hurricane.  Land 
came  in  sight  at  last  and  as  she  neared  it  Captain  David- 


A  CALL  THROUGH  THE  STORM  17 

son  shouted  from  the  bridge,  "  Boys,  we've  got  to  swim 
for  it  after  all!"  A  moment  afterward  the  troopship 
struck  the  reef.  Had  she  drifted  only  a  few  hundred 
yards  further  to  the  north  she  would  have  passed  the  rocks 
and  driven  on  a  sandy  beach  and  all  hands  might  have 
been  saved.  But  the  reef  caught  and  held  her  there  and 
the  sea  broke  her  up. 

The  men  aboard  could  see  the  groups  of  islanders  gath- 
ered on  the  headlands  of  Islay  and  for  a  time  they  hope- 
fully watched  the  efforts  of  the  coastguard  to  get  a  rocket 
line  to  them.  But  after  many  trials  this  had  to  be  aban- 
doned as  the  wind  was  too  high  and  the  distance  seaward 
too  great  for  the  carry.  Later,  as  the  waves  were  furiously 
sweeping  the  decks,  some  of  the  men  sprang  over  in  their 
cork  jackets,  but  most  of  them  still  clung  to  the  ship. 
During  the  early  afternoon  she  was  torn  in  two,  one  part 
of  the  hull  turning  sidewise  and  emptying  all  hands  into 
the  sea.  The  other  part  was  quickly  beaten  to  pieces,  and 
in  this  churn  of  wreckage  the  living  and  the  dead  were 
flung  ashore  together. 

The  force  of  the  sea  which  destroyed  the  Otranto  was 
almost  unbelievable.  Although  she  struck  more  than  a 
mile  and  a  half  from  land,  huge  portions  of  her  engines 
were  wrenched  out  of  her  and  driven  across  even  that 
distance  into  the  rocky  gullies  of  Islay.  It  was  little  to 
be  wondered  at  that  far  more  men  were  killed  by  the 
wreckage  than  were  drowned,  as  the  examination  of  the 
Red  Cross  surgeons  disclosed.  They  had  never  had  a 
ghost  of  a  chance  to  swim  for  it  through  the  driving  masses 
of  broken  timber  and  cargo. 

Along  the  coast  for  nearly  a  mile  the  bodies  were  washed 
in.  Owing  to  the  way  in  which  the  storm  had  wedged 
the  wreckage  into  the  deep,  narrow  crevices,  the  recovery 
of  the  dead  was  most  difficult,  great  piles  of  heavy  timbers 
having  to  be  taken  apart  to  search  for  them.  As  few  of 
the  island  men  could  be  spared  from  harvest,  the  task  was 
necessarily  slow,  but  the  bodies  were  gathered  in  twos  and 


18  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

threes  and  borne  on  improvised  stretchers  and  farm  carts 
to  Kilchoman.  They  were  first  laid  in  the  churchyard 
and  a  careful  record  made  of  the  identification  discs  which 
were  found  on  most  of  the  American  soldiers.  Note  was 
also  made  of  the  contents  of  pockets  and  of  clothing  marks 
in  the  cases  of  those  whose  tags  were  missing.  This  work, 
as  well  as  that  of  collecting  the  dead,  was  performed  under 
the  direction  of  Lieut.  Col.  C.  Heaton-Ellis,  the  ranking 
British  military  officer  on  Islay,  who  spoke  afterward 
in  highest  terms  of  the  aid  the  Red  Cross  had  been  to 
him. 

At  the  end  of  the  third  day,  having  given  the  survivors 
all  assistance  in  its  power  and  provided  for  them  a  stock 
of  supplies  at  two  towns,  the  Red  Cross  party  left  for 
Ireland  on  a*  British  trawler. 

But  this  was  not  all  that  the  Red  Cross  was  to  do  for 
the  Otranto's  men.  A  second  hurrying  expedition  had 
already  been  dispatched  to  distant  Islay. 

Word  of  the  disaster,  brief  and  bare  of  detail  at  first 
but  supplemented  later  by  telegrams  from  Belfast,  reached 
London  headquarters  the  morning  after  the  Oiranto  struck. 
A  party  headed  by  Lieutenant  James  Jeffers,  commander 
of  the  ever-ready  "  Flying  Squadron '  of  the  Emergency 
Relief  Department,  was  immediately  organized  and  started 
north  with  the  American  Army  officers  who  had  been  or- 
dered to  the  scene  of  the  wreck. 

When  this  party  debarked  at  Dublin  on  Tuesday 
morning  it  encountered,  by  good  fortune,  the  first  band  of 
American  survivors,  202  men  and  four  officers  arriving 
from  Belfast.  As  they  went  aboard  the  little  steam  packet 
which  was  to  take  them  to  England,  the  Red  Cross  men, 
one  of  whom  had  been  with  them  all  the  wav,  distributed 

*/  / 

a  plentiful  supply  of  cigarettes  and  chocolates,  enough  to 
last  them  to  their  journey's  end. 

The  train  bearing  the  second  detachment,  numbering 
forty-five  men  and  two  officers,  bound  southward  by  way 


A  CALL  THROUGH  THE  STORM  19 

of  London,  was  not  stopped  at  Dublin  for  some  reason, 
but  sent  through  to  Kingstown.  So  the  Red  Cross  has- 
tened into  action.  The  young  women  of  the  Dublin  branch, 
who  had  been  expecting  the  train  and  had  prepared  for  it, 
were  not  to  be  denied.  They  bundled  their  sandwiches 
and  cakes  into  a  swift  motor  and  ran  down  to  Kingstown 
where  they  gave  the  men  a  surprise  party  by  serving 
them  in  their  coaches  at  the  railway  station.  Chocolate 
and  cigarettes  were  also  given  to  them  out  of  the  Red 
Cross  magician's  bag. 

At  no  time,  from  the  hour  of  their  dramatic  arrival  in 
Belfast  Harbor  until  they  reached  their  destination  in 
the  south  of  England,  were  these  officers  and  men  out  of 
Red  Cross  hands.  The  first  band,  which  went  directly 
to  a  rest  camp  near  Winchester,  was  met  again  by  the  Red 
Cross  at  the  railway  station  and  provided  with  whatever 
the  men  most  needed.  Additional  clothing  was  given  to 
them  later  at  the  camp  and  to  several  of  the  officers  the 
Red  Cross  lent  sufficient  funds  with  which  to  replace  their 
ruined  uniforms.  The  second  band  was  met  in  London 
at  half  past  five  o'clock  in  the  morning  by  a  Red  Cross 
emergency  detail  which  provided  the  men  with  supper 
and  afterward  took  them  in  motor  cars  to  comfortable 
sleeping  quarters.  Ln  good  and  proper  time  the  Red  Cross 
entertained  them  at  breakfast  next  day  and,  as  a  last 

i/  ' 

service,  motored  them  to  the  station  whence  they  entrained 
for  the  south. 

So  prompt  and  sincere  was  the  appreciation  of  all  these 
men  that  reference  to  it  is  irresistible.  It  is,  perhaps, 
best  summed  up  in  what  one  of  the  officers  said : 

"  How  the  Red  Cross  did  it  I  can  only  imagine,  but  this 
I  know:  many  of  the  survivors  of  the  Otranto  owe  their 
lives  to  the  Red  Cross.  Its  representatives  were  with  us 
as  soon  as  we  landed  from  the  British  destroyer  and  con- 
tinued to  serve  us  constantly  until  we  reached  our  camp 
in  southern  England. 

"  The  preparations  made  by  the  Red  Cross  before  the 


20  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

disaster  were  amazing  in  their  foresight,  because  it  had 
everything  ready  for  us  when  we  landed  in  Belfast. 
Many  of  our  men,  beyond  any  doubt,  would  have  fallen 
victims  to  the  effects  of  shock  and  exposure  save  for  the 
warm  clothing,  the  food  and  the  medicaments  which  the 
Red  Cross  so  promptly  supplied. 

"  There  is  not  a  man  in  my  detachment  who  does  not 
feel  the  keenest  gratitude  to  the  men  and  women  of  the 
Red  Cross  who  met  us  all  along  the  way.  What  they  did 
for  us  in  Belfast,  that  is,  for  those  of  us  who  landed  in 
fairly  good  shape,  was  only  a  small  part  of  their  work. 
It  was,  naturally,  centered  upon  the  fifty  or  more  men 
who  had  to  be  taken  to  hospital  immediately  upon  arrival 
and  to  whom  so  much  kind  care  was  given." 

There  was  much  that  the  second  Red  Cross  party  found 
to  do,  once  it  reached  Kilchoman.  The  stock  of  provisions 
available  in  that  bleak,  remote  region  was  all  but  ex- 
hausted. Following  their  hospitable  "  gillie  "  custom,  the 
people  of  the  hamlet  had  fed  most  of  the  scores  of  islanders 
who  had  come  from  even  the  remotest  villages  to  help 
gather  the  Otranto's  dead,  until  little  remained  for  the 
half  dozen  injured  survivors,  or  even  for  themselves.  So 
the  Red  Cross  sent  a  foraging  squad  into  the  farm  lands 
of  the  back-country  which  returned  in  a  borrowed  motor 
car  loaded  with  milk,  eggs,  butter,  bread  and  meat  to 
refill  the  empty  larders. 

Five  days  having  passed  since  the  wreck  of  the  troop- 
ship, it  became  necessary  to  bury  the  bodies  which  had 
been  collected  in  Padre  Grant's  church.  There  were  so 
many  of  them  —  they  were  coming  in  every  day  —  that 
they  not  only  filled  the  pews  and  most  of  the  floor  space, 
but  were  even  laid  upon  the  altar  platform.  Only  three 
coffins  were  to  be  found  upon  the  island  and  as  the  scarcity 
of  wood  prevented  further  manufacture,  it  was  decided  by 
the  British  authorities  to  place  the  dead  in  shallow  trenches 


A  CALL  THROUGH  THE  STORM  21 

and  cover  them  with  green  sod  until  they  might  be  per- 
manently interred.  So  the  first  burial  ceremony  was  set 
for  Friday,  October  the  eleventh. 

Early  in  the  afternoon  of  that  day,  the  funeral  proces- 
sion formed  in  the  rugged  little  churchyard  of  Kilchoman 
and  went  its  slow  wav  across  the  windv  downs.  It  was  led 

«.  </ 

by  the  two  pipers  of  the  Laird  of  Islay,  in  kilt  and  bonnet, 
playing  a  Highland  dirge.  After  them  came  a  rough 
farm  cart  with  the  three  coffins,  bearing  the  bodies  of  the 
captain  of  the  Otranto  and  two  American  officers  who  had 
perished  with  him,  escorted  by  a  guard  of  honor  from  the 
Home  Defense  Force  and  the  constabulary,  the  clergy  of 
Islay,  representatives  of  the  American  Army,  of  the  Brit- 
ish Army  and  Navy,  the  Red  Cross  party,  and  last,  a  great 
crowd  of  the  islanders,  many  of  whom  had,  in  like  fashion, 
followed  the  Tuscanias  dead  only  eight  months  before. 

The  burial  ground  given  by  the  Laird  of  Islay,  Mr. 
Hugh  Morrison,  was  on  a  plateau  a  few  hundred  yards 
from  the  church,  sheltered  beneath  a  high  parapet  of  cliffs 
but  overlooking  the  distant  scene  of  the  wreck.  In  the 
trenches  there,  the  bodies  of  186  of  the  victims  —  120  of 
them  American  soldiers  —  had  already  been  placed,  with 
flowers  about  them,  even  in  that  bleak  country;  wreaths 
and  clusters  from  His  Majesty's  Army  and  Navy,  from  the 
American  Army  and  Navy,  the  County  Constabulary,  the 
Coastguard,  and  from  many  of  the  residents  of  the 
island. 

The  ceremony  over  these  men  was  impressive  beyond 
forgetfulness.  Padre  Grant  read  the  burial  service  and 
the  other  members  of  the  clergy  added  their  short  prayers, 
after  which,  as  the  American  flag  and  the  Union  Jack 
were  dipped,  the  guard  fired  six  volleys  in  reverberating 
salute.  Then  there  was  a  pause,  but  before  the  echoes 
died  the  assemblage,  with  one  voice,  broke  into  "  God 
Save  the  King !  " 

This,  in  accordance  with  every  custom,  would  have  closed 


22  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

the  ritual,  but  no  sooner  was  the  anthem  ended  than  the 
crowd,  with  the  same  ringing  fervor,  took  up  "  The  Star- 
Spangled  Banner '  and  sent  it,  too,  flying  from  rock  to 
rock.  It  was  a  graceful,  delicate  courtesy  which  the 
officers  of  the  American  Army  and  the  Eed  Cross  were 
quick  to  appreciate. 

There  were  many  other  burials  later  in  that  same 
ground  because,  in  time,  the  sea  and  the  wreckage  gave 
up  the  bodies  of  315  American  soldiers  and  at  intervals 
they  were  laid  in  the  trenches  beside  their  fellows.  It 
was  possible  to  identify  only  263  of  these  men,  so  fifty- 
two  were  buried  nameless.  But  the  resting  place  of  each 
has  been  carefully  marked  with  a  cross  and,  in  the  ar- 
rangement of  the  graves,  a  place  left  for  the  emplacement 
of  a  monument  which  will  further  designate  the  spot  and 
tell  something  of  the  tragic  story  of  the  men  who  lie 
beside  it.  For  when  the  Otranto  was  wrecked,  365 
American  soldiers  perished  with  her. 

The  day  after  the  first  burial  ceremony,  two  military 
detachments  arrived  on  Islay  to  complete  the  tasks  at 
which  the  islanders  had  so  tirelessly  worked.  One  was 
composed  of  twenty-five  American  soldiers  sent  to  make 
coffins  and  bringing  a  motor  truck  and  a  shipload  of 
lumber  with  them  from  Liverpool.  The  other  was  a  detail 
of  thirty  men  of  a  British  labor  battalion  from  Scotland 
to  relieve  the  exhausted  volunteers  who,  day  and  night, 
were  searching  the  shore  for  the  dead.  This  work  had 
become  more  and  more  difficult  as  the  sodden  cargo  of  the 
Otranto  continued  to  pile  up  in  the  gullies  and  inlets  of 
the  coast. 

Quarters  for  the  Americans  were  obtained  in  an  old 
distillery  -and  two  cabinet  makers  on  the  island  employed 
to  teach  them  the  fashioning  of  the  caskets. 

To  each  of  these  contingents  the  Red  Cross  rendered 
valuable  aid,  providing  Englishmen  and  Americans  alike 
with  such  necessities  as  bread,  tea  and  tobacco,  blankets, 
heavy  underclothing  and  sweaters  and  such  minor  com- 


A  CALL  THROUGH  THE  STORM  23 

forts  as  razors  and  toilet  accessories.  Also  it  gave  them 
an  abundant  supply  of  peat  with  which  to  heat  their 
draughty  billets.  Fresh  provisions  were  conveyed  to  them 
in  a  Red  Cross  motor  which  made  four  trips  every  day 
half  way  across  the  island  to  the  nearest  place  at  which 
stores  could  be  purchased. 

For  the  injured  soldiers  at  Kilchoman  a  daily  supply  of 
milk,  butter  and  eggs  was  furnished  by  the  Red  Cross  and 
everything  possible  done  to  lighten  the  humane  labors  that 
the  people  of  the  hamlet  had  so  heroically  assumed.  It 
had  been  an  almost  superhuman  undertaking  to  bring 
five  of  these  men  back  to  life  after  thev  were  snatched  out 

V 

of  the  sea,  but  it  never  relinquished  for  an  instant.  How- 
ever, little  by  little,  one  of  them  failed,  despite  all  the  care 
that  was  given  to  him,  and  nine  days  later  he  died  and  was 
buried  with  his  mates.  He  was  a  boy  from  Augusta, 
Georgia ;  Mrs.  Grant,  the  Padre's  wife,  who  had  so  faith- 
fully nursed  him,  and  one  of  the  Red  Cross  officers  were 
at  his  bedside  when  he  went. 

This  brings  almost  to  a  close  the  story  of  the  Otranto 
and  what  the  American  Red  Cross  did  for  her  survivors 
and  her  dead.  Within  a  short  time  the  remaining  soldiers 
were  able  to  leave  Kilchoman  and  journey  to  Ireland  and 
thence  to  their  camp  in  southern  England.  And  with 
their  going  the  work  of  the  Red  Cross  on  Islay  came  to 
an  end. 

In  after  years  the  ships  that  go  buffeting  through  the 
windy  gateway  of  the  North  Channel  will  pick  up,  high 
on  a  headland  of  Islay,  a  towering  landmark,  sharp  against 
the  northern  sky.  They  will  come  to  look  for  it  and  to 
know  it  as  they  know  the  beacons  of  that  rugged  coast. 

For,  on  the  Mull  of  Oa,  the  island's  south-most  point, 
the  American  Red  Cross  is  building  a  great  stone  tower 
in  memory  of  those  American  soldiers  who  were  lost  when 
disaster  overtook  the  troopships  Tuscania  and  Otranto  in 
the  waters  just  beyond. 


24  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

And  to  the  ships  of  all  the  seas  this  shaft  will  rise  as 
a  symbol  of  heroism  and  sacrifice,  of  a  call  through  the 
storm  —  and  an  answer. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  LESSON   OF  THE  TUSCANIA 

THE  selection  of  the  Otranto  disaster  with  which  to 
begin  this  narrative  of  American  Red  Cross  service 
in  Great  Britain  has  been  a  deliberate  one.  Instead  of 
following  the  unyielding  method  of  historical  progression 
it  seemed  far  better  to  shorten  the  prospective  abruptly 
and  show  at  once  what,  through  preparation  and  resource, 
the  Red  Cross  was  able  to  accomplish  in  an  emergency  so 
swift,  so  tragic. 

Nor  are  other  reasons  lacking.  The  destruction  of  the 
Otranto  was  not  only  the  heaviest  misfortune  to  befall 
the  American  troops  in  their  hazardous  voyaging  oversea, 
but  was  one  of  the  great  catastrophes  of  the  war,  occurring 
at  a  time  when  American  effort  was  at  its  utmost  in  the 
task  of  landing  an  army  in  France.  As  the  censors  in 
England  withheld  transmission  of  the  story  for  five  days 
it  had  only  an  ephemeral  appearance  in  the  press  of 
America  and  many  of  the  details  in  the  foregoing  nar- 
rative are  here  published  for  the  first  time. 

As  an  illustration  of  organized  efficiency,  the  work  of 
the  Red  Cross  for  the  men  of  the  Otranto  f  both  the  living 
and  the  dead,  is  not  surpassed  in  the  entire  chronicle  of 
the  Commission  for  Great  Britain.  For  the  first  call  to 
aid  came,  not  upon  the  headquarters  staff  in  London,  with 
its  numerous,  capable  personnel  and  its  well  adjusted 
mechanism  of  relief,  but  upon  an  outpost,  hundreds  of 
miles  away  in  Ireland.  Yet,  when  the  call  sounded  the 
outpost  was  ready  and  it  responded  with  an  equipment  of 
supplies  and  enthusiasm  which  would  have  carried  it 
through  any  undertaking. 

It  was,  unfortunately,  though  not  so  strangely,  another, 

an  earlier,  sea  tragedy,  that  of  the  torpedoed  transport 

25 


26  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

Tuscania,  which  made  such  alert  efficiency  possible.  The 
Tuscania  served  the  Red  Cross  as  a  lesson,  grim,  but  in- 
valuable, and  set  it  to  fortifying  itself  against  whatever 
Fate,  abroad  in  British  waters,  might  later  contrive  with 
submarine  or  mine  or  storm  along  the  Kingdom's  rocky 
shores. 

This  recital  having  already,  and  with  intent,  set  chron- 
ology at  naught,  must  venture  to  do  so  again  in  turning 
now  to  the  Tuscania  because,  in  Red  Cross  annals,  the 
Tuscania  and  the  Otranto  are  inseparably  linked  through 
this  very  lesson  and  what  came  of  it. 

The  sinking  of  the  Tuscania  created  a  sensation  in  Eng- 
land as  well  as  in  the  United  States  and  the  newspapers 
in  both  countries  rang  with  it.  This  was  the  first  time  that 
a  vessel  filled  with  American  troops  on  their  way  to  the 
theater  of  war  had  gone  to  the  bottom.  Had  it  not  been 
for  the  intrepidity  of  the  convoying  British  destroyers 
and  a  measurable  factor  of  pure  Chance,  most  of  the  2,500 
men  aboard  her  must  have  perished.  But,  through  these 
fortuitous  things,  all  but  182  of  her  company  were  saved. 

With  so  many  survivors  stripped  of  practically  every- 
thing, and  flung  upon  its  hands  for  aid  in  half  a  dozen 
distant  places,  there  is  little  wonder  that  the  Red  Cross 
learned  a  lesson  from  this  unfortunate  ship  and  was  ready 
for  the  Otranto' s  fateful  hour  almost  to  the  point  of 
foresight. 

That  one  may  more  clearly  understand  the  plight  of 
those  hundreds  of  rescued  men  and  how  much  they  stood 
in  need  of  help  the  Red  Cross  brought  to  them,  one  must 
go,  as  it  were,  aboard  the  Tuscania  on  her  last  night,  Tues- 
day, the  5th  of  February,  1918. 

The  convoy  of  troopships,  black  shapes  upon  a  black  sea, 
had  swung  into  the  entrance  of  the  North  Channel  and  was 
turning  southward.  The  morning  would  find  them  all 
safe  at  Liverpool.  On  the  Tuscania  fifteen  lookouts  were 
watching  the  waters  about  their  ship  for  there  was  peril 
on  every  side  of  her ;  the  Hun  boats  had  been  very  busy 


THE  LESSON  OF  THE  TUSCANIA  27 

of  late.     But  there  were  destroyers  riding  on  the  flanks 

t/ 

of  the  convoy  and  no  one  gave  serious  thought  of  the  pos- 
sibilities of  danger.  The  voyage  was  almost  at  an  end. 

Several  hundred  lumberjacks  from  the  woods  of  Wis- 
consin and  Michigan,  forestry  engineers,  and  aero-squadron 
men  were  at  supper.  Hundreds  of  others  were  impatiently 
awaiting  their  turn  at  mess. 

In  the  midst  of  it  all,  without  even  the  warning  of  a 
foaming  wake,  came  a  shattering  explosion  on  the  Tus- 
canias  starboard  side.  There  was  never  one  instant's 
doubt  of  what  it  meant  and  the  call  to  quarters  shrilled  on 
every  deck. 

Although  the  2,500  men  she  was  carrying  had  had  the 
briefest  of  military  training  and  discipline,  they  formed 
on  deck  and  then  went  to  their  appointed  stations  with  the 
utmost  courage  and  coolness.  ISTot  a  man  hurried. 

As  the  torpedo  had  blown  an  enormous  hole  in  the  Tus- 
cania,  she  sank  deeply  and  at  once  upon  her  injured  side. 
While  this  made  it  comparatively  easy  to  lower  away  her 
starboard  lifeboats,  those  along  her  now  high  port  rail 
were  rendered  practically  useless.  But  so  steadfastly  did 
every  man  hold  himself  in  hand  that  the  ones  who  had  been 
thus  deprived  of  their  allotted  boats  made  no  effort  to  seek 
place  in  others;  they  merely  stood  about,  out  of  the  way, 
and  hopefully  waited  or  else  looked  to  the  fastenings  of 
their  cork  jackets  and  deliberately  leaped  overboard.  The 
absence  of  even  a  suggestion  of  panic  would  have  been 
remarkable  enough  at  such  a  time  and  with  so  slightly 
trained  troops,  but  it  has  been  stated  upon  the  word  of  a 
well-known  American  writer,  who  chanced  to  be  a  passenger 
on  one  of  the  vessels  of  the  convoy,  that  when  the  heavily 
laden  lifeboats  pushed  off  from,  the  Tuscanias  side,  some 
dauntless  soul  began  singing  the  refrain  of :  "  Where  do 
we  go  from  here,  boys ;  where  do  we  go  from  here  ? '  In 
an  instant  the  men  in  the  other  boats  had  caught  it  up 
and  with  this  music-hall  ballad  ringing  out  in  unanswer- 
able inquiry,  they  rowed  away  into  the  darkness. 


28  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

Rescue,  however,  reached  the  Tuscania  far  more  quickly 
than  it  came  to  the  wallowing  Otranto,  for,  the  instant 
she  was  struck,  the  Tuscania  signaled  and  flashed  on  all 
her  lights.  The  convoy  knew  at  once  what  had  happened 
to  her  and  knew  also  that  a  German  submarine  had  pierced 
the  cordon  of  guard  ships  to  deliver  the  blow.  But,  heed- 
less of  danger,  two  British  destroyers  darted  in  to  the 
Tuscanicis  aid,  running  alongside,  so  that  her  men  could 
jump  or  slide  down  ropes  to  their  decks.  Favored  by  a 
comparatively  smooth  sea,  the  North  Channel  patrols  and 
boats  from  the  escorting  ships  also  engaged  in  the  task  of 
picking  up  the  many  soldiers  who  were  floating  about  or 
clinging  to  rafts  in  the  freezing  water.  As  it  was  in  the 
dead  of  winter  the  condition  of  a  number  of  these  men 
was  such  that  they  died  while  the  rescue  boats  were  mak- 
ing for  land.  And  many,  too,  were  already  lifeless  when 
they  were  taken  from  the  water. 

Although  the  Tuscania  remained  afloat  for  about  two 
hours  and  every  effort  was  made  to  pick  up  all  the  living 
and  the  dead,  the  darkness  and  the  set  of  the  tide  and  the 
wind  made  this  impossible.  However,  of  one  unfortunate 
American  soldier  who  drifted  away  that  night  there  is  a 
record  in  the  files  of  the  British  Admiralty.  It  is  penned 
in  a  deep-sea  skipper's  rough  and  unaccustomed  hand, 
written  in  the  cabin  of  a  steam  trawler  and  saving  of 

words.     It  says: 

BELLONA. 

When  patrolling  on  Square  37  at  12  A.  M.  Monday,  the  18th 
(of  February,  1918),  I  observed  the  dead  body  of  a  man  with  a 
lifebelt  on  floating  in  the  water.  I  stopped  the  ship  at  once 
and  picked  him  up.  I  found  him  to  be  a  man  about  5  ft.  5  in. 
in  height,  of  stout  build  with  brown  hair,  clean  shaven,  dressed 
in  the  uniform  of  a  marine  with  a  pair  of  brown  service  boots. 
It  was  necessary  to  bury  him  at  sea.  After  sewing  the  body  up 
in  canvas  I  read  the  funeral  service  and  then  quietly  lowered 
him  to  his  grave. 

JOHN  MAIR,  Skipper. 

The  destroyers  and  patrol  boats  landed  their  rescued 


THE  LESSON  OF  THE  TUSCANIA  29 

men  at  Londonderry,  one  of  the  naval  bases,  and  at  Larne 
and  other  lesser  ports  on  the  North  Irish  coast,  the  first 
of  them  reaching  land  shortly  after  4  o'clock  in  the 
morning. 

At  Londonderry,  to  which  the  destroyers  brought  1,350 
men,  eighty  had  to  be  sent  to  hospitals  immediately.  Many 
of  these  were  soldiers,  already  ill,  who  had  been  brought 
on  deck  from  the  transport's  sick-bay  when  it  was  known 
that  she  was  sinking,  and  others  were  suffering  from  in- 
juries or  exposure. 

News  of  the  torpedoing  having  reached  the  mainland 
before  the  arrival  of  the  castaways,  some  sort  of  prepara- 
tion was  possible.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  people  of 
Larne  sat  up  all  night  awaiting  the  boats. 

Every  kindness  and  care  were  given  to  the  wet  and 
shivering  survivors  even  at  the  resource-taxing  hour  at 
which  they  came  ashore.  They  were  provided  with  hot 
food  and  drink  and  from  all  available  sources  sufficient 
clothing  was  gathered  to  outfit  temporarily  a  considerable 
number.  The  service  of  every  physician  in  the  Larne  dis- 
trict was  requisitioned  and  the  women  of  the  community 
largely  volunteered  for  the  nursing.  Of  the  550  landed  at 
Larne,  thirty  were  in  need  of  prompt  medical  aid  and  these 
were  taken  to  the  city  infirmary.  The  remainder  were 
quartered  wherever  room  could  be  found  for  them.  The 
proprietor  of  one  of  the  largest  hotels  gratuitously  con- 
verted his  dining  room  into  a  dormitory  and  provided 
mattresses  and  blankets  more  than  a  hundred.  In  order 
that  discipline  should  be  maintained  in  the  community  all 
the  twenty-four  public  houses  in  the  city  closed  their  doors, 
not  by  order  but  by  agreement,  from  the  morning  of  the 
soldiers'  arrival  until  they  left  three  days  later. 

The  American  Red  Cross  in  London  learned  of  the 
catastrophe  at  about  the  time  the  survivors  were  being 
brought  into  the  northern  Irish  ports.  Instantly  the  ma- 
chinery of  relief  was  set  in  motion.  The  first  impulse 
given  to  it  was  the  dispatching  of  telegrams  to  the  Ameri- 


30  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

can  Consul  at  Belfast,  placing  funds  and  supplies  in  his 
hands  for  immediate  use.  Next,  arrangements  were  made 
with  the  British  Red  Cross  in  London  whereby  it  put  all 
its  resources  in  Ireland  at  the  disposal  of  the  American  or- 
ganization. And,  lastly,  two  American  Red  Cross  repre- 
sentatives, Captain  R.  Stuart  Smith,  afterwards  Lieut.  - 
Colonel  and  Commissioner  for  Great  Britain,  and  Captain 
Edgar  H.  Wells,  Deputy  Commissioner  and,  at  that  time, 
assistant  Military  Attache  of  the  American  Embassy,  took 
the  night  boat  train  for  Lame,  well  supplied  with  money  to 
meet  whatever  demands  the  extraordinary  situation  might 
make. 

When  they  arrived  in  Ireland  early  the  following  morn- 
ing they  found  that  the  officers  and  men  of  the  Tuscania 
most  in  need  of  aid  were  quartered  at  Larne  and  in  British 
military  camps  at  Randalstown  and  Carrickfergus. 

At  these  points  a  hasty  but  thorough  inspection  of  the 
soldiers  was  made  and  Captain  Smith  and  Captain  Wells 
signed  receipts  for  all  the  equipment  of  clothing  and  mess 
kits  the  men  required,  these  being  provided  from  the  stores 
of  the  British  Army.  Also  large  quantities  of  comfort 
supplies  and  tobacco  were  purchased  in  Belfast  and  dis- 
tributed wherever  survivors  could  be  found.  Arrange- 
ments were  made  with  the  railway  transportation  officers 
of  the  British  Army  for  the  feeding  of  the  men  on  their 
journey  from  the  several  camps  across  Ireland  and  Eng- 
land to  their  ultimate  destination  at  Winchester. 

Every  camp  was  visited  by  the  Red  Cross  officers,  the 
needs  of  the  Americans  ascertained  and  these  at  once 
supplied.  Sums  of  money  were  lent  to  many  of  the  offi- 
cers, both  for  their  own  needs  and  those  of  their  men  and 
they  were  informed  that  the  Red  Cross  would  take  steps 
to  assist  in  completely  re-equipping  them  as  soon  as  they 
should  reach  England.  Money  was  not  given  to  the  en- 
listed men  as  they  had  practically  no  use  for  it,  the  gener- 
ous townspeople  everywhere  refusing  to  accept  payment 
for  purchases. 


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THE  LESSON  OF  THE  TUSCANIA  31 

The  men  in  the  hospitals  were  also  visited  and  every- 
thing done  to  insure  their  comfort.  And  at  the  several 
British  camps,  the  Red  Cross  representatives  made  cash 
contributions  to  the  regimental  funds  to  replenish  the  stores 
which  had  been  so  largely  drawn  upon  for  the  Tuscanias 
men. 

By  reason  of  the  great  amount  of  work  to  be  accom- 
plished the  Red  Cross  party  of  two  had  to  work  about 
twenty  hours  a  day  to  make  sure  that  no  man  and  no  need 
should  be  overlooked.  Captain  Smith  and  Captain  Wells 
organized  a  very  efficient  assistance  in  Belfast  where  there 
were  a  number  of  resident  Americans  already  interested 
in  the  work  of  the  American  Red  Cross.  They  gladly 
volunteered  their  services  for  any  work  that  was  to  be  done, 
for  it  was  known  that  a  considerable  time  must  elapse 
before  many  of  the  sick  men  would  be  in  condition  to 
resume  the  journey  to  England.  As  speedily  as  possible 
these  were  concentrated  in  the  vicinity  of  Belfast  where 
they  could  be  attended  most  conveniently  and  efficiently 
by  the  Red  Cross.  It  was  not  until  nearly  two  weeks 
after  the  disaster  that  the  last  of  the  soldier  patients  was 
able  to  leave  for  southern  England.  But  during  all  that 
time,  with  the  cooperation  and  assistance  of  the  Consul, 
the  Belfast  Americans,  mostly  women,  were  constant  in 
their  attention  to  the  sick  men,  providing  them  with  what- 
ever they  were  allowed  to  receive  and  cheering  them  not 
a  little  by  their  very  presence. 

The  soldier  survivors  in  Ireland,  aside  from  the  hospital 
cases,  were  moved  to  England  in  five  detachments,  a  Red 
Cross  representative  accompanying  each  party  to  its  port 
of  embarkation  and  supplying  tobacco  and  other  comforts 
to  outlast  the  journey. 

Of  all  the  business  days  in  the  week,  the  most  incon- 
venient, by  common  consent,  is  Saturday.  At  best  it  is 
only  half  a  day,  for  after  the  noon  hour  has  struck  it 
might  as  well  be  Sunday  so  far  as  things  commercial  are 
concerned.  However,  perversity  decreed  that  news  of 


32  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

the  decision  to  take  the  Tuscania  survivors  from  Ireland 
to  Winchester  reached  Red  Cross  headquarters  in  London 
on  Saturday  morning.  Furthermore,  it  was  learned  that 
approximately  nineteen  hundred  of  these  men  would  reach 
the  big  rest  camp  on  Sunday  night  or  early  Monday 
morning. 

As  none  of  the  men  had  yet  been  completely  re-outfitted, 
it  was  the  desire  of  the  Red  Cross  Commission  to  have 
everything  needful  at  Winchester  Rest  Camp  and  avail- 
able for  distribution  the  moment  they  should  arrive  in 
their  new  quarters.  Aside  from  the  fact  that  the  Com- 
mission for  Great  Britain  was  still  in  its  early  days  and 
without  sufficient  supplies  to  provide  for  so  great  a,  num- 
ber of  men,  Saturday  presented  its  problem.  All  business 
in  London  commercial  houses,  where  any  purchases  to 
meet  such  a  demand  would  have  to  be  made,  ceases 
promptly  at  noon  on  that  day.  But  the  British  Red 
Cross  came  at  once  to  the  rescue.  It  threw  wide  the  doors 
of  its  London  warehouses  and  offered  to  supply  the  Ameri- 
can organization  with  whatever  was  needed.  This  left 
to  the  American  Red  Cross  the  simple  task  of  providing 
transportation.  So,  during  the  afternoon  of  Saturday, 
nineteen  hundred  packets  were  made  up,  each  containing 
towels,  soap,  razors,  cigarettes,  stationery,  handkerchiefs, 
gloves,  combs  and  other  comforts  and,  before  evening,  the 
whole  lot  had  been  loaded  into  a  fleet  of  American  Red 
Cross  lorries  and  had  started  on  their  four-hour  run  to 
Winchester. 

The  soldiers  arrived  at  the  rest  camp  on  Monday  morn- 
ing and  immediately  afterward  the  Red  Cross  parcels  were 
distributed  to  them.  Later  in  the  morning  they  were 
drawn  up  for  inspection  in  their  nondescript  clothing  and 
complete  new  issues  of  the  necessary  uniforms  were  made. 
At  the  same  time,  the  officers,  110  in  number,  were  assem- 
bled and  the  Red  Cross  representative  offered  to  provide 
them  with  whatever  funds  should  be  necessary  to  purchase 
uniforms  and  equipment  to  replace  the  gear  they  had 


THE  LESSON  OF  THE  TUSCANIA       33 

lost  at  sea.  About  75  of  the  officers  availed  themselves  of 
this  offer  and  to  them  the  Red  Cross  advanced  amounts 
ranging  from  $50  to  $210,  the  total  sum  reaching  more 
than  $16,000.  In  some  cases,  the  Red  Cross  cashed  for 
them  drafts  on  their  banks  at  home,  but  in  nearly  all 
instances  the  officers  expressed  their  desire  to  make  reim- 
bursement for  the  advances  from  their  monthly  pay. 
The  Red  Cross  arranged  to  have  first  class  army  outfitters 
go  to  Winchester,  take  measurements,  and  receive  orders. 
Forty  of  the  officers,  however,  desired  to  come  to  London 
to  make  their  selections  and  purchases  and  during  their 
visit  the  Red  Cross  acted  as  guide  and  host,  placing  its 
headquarters  building  at  their  disposal  and  inviting  them 
to  select  such  articles  as  sweaters,  blankets,  underclothing, 
sleeping  bags  and  other  things,  without  charge,  from  its 
warehouse  supply.  During  their  stay  in  London  they  were 
the  guests  at  the  American  Officers'  Inn  in  Cavendish 
Square. 

Only  one  large  party  of  the  Tuscania  survivors  passed 
through  London  on  the  way  to  Winchester.  This  was 
composed  of  fifteen  officers  and  115  men.  News  of  their 
coming  was  telegraphed  to  Red  Cross  headquarters  in 
London  and  instead  of  providing  for  them  the  usual  sta- 
tion canteen  service,  these  men  were  entertained  by  the 
Red  Cross  at  a  dinner  in  the  Euston  Station  Hotel,  where 
the  entire  dining  room  was  reserved  for  them. 

As  time  went  on  and  the  men  in  the  hospitals  in  Ireland 
recovered,  news  of  their  departure  for  Winchester  was 
telegraphed  to  London  headquarters  and  arrangements 
were  made  to  meet  them  on  the  way  and  give  them  what- 
ever care  they  needed. 

But  all  of  the  Tuscanws  company  were  not  so  fortunate 
as  to  land  in  Ireland.  There  were  hundreds  of  her  men 
in  the  ship's  boats  which  rowed  away  as  she  sank.  These 
had  the  wind  and  the  swift  set  of  the  North  Channel 
current  to  contend  with  and  these  drove  them  eastward 


34  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

upon  the  jagged  shores  of  Islay.  And  it  was  here  that 
so  many  were  killed  or  drowned  when  their  boats  crashed 
upon  the  rocks.  The  people  of  the  island  did  all  that 
was  humanly  possible  to  rescue  them  when  the  lifeboats 
and  rafts  came  plunging  in  during  the  early  morning  at 
several  points  along  the  rough  coast.  While  they  did 
save  hundreds  who  might  otherwise  have  been  lost,  182  of 
the  Tuscania  soldiers  were  flung  ashore  lifeless.  Of  these 
only  170  could  be  identified.  As  the  victims  had  come  in 
at  rather  widely  separated  places,  they  were  buried  as 
near  as  possible  to  these  places  in  four  cemeteries  over- 
looking the  sea. 

Many  of  the  survivors  on  the  island  were  in  serious 
condition  owing  to  exposure.  To  their  aid  the  Red  Cross 
sent  a  detachment  of  American  nurses  from  the  Red  Cross 
Hospital  at  Mossley  Hill,  Liverpool.  They  made  almost 
a  record  run  to  Islay  and  were  soon  in  charge  of  the  sick 
men  whom  they  attended  until  all  were  able  to  travel 
and  eventually  they  accompanied  the  squads  of  men  as 
they  left  for  their  station  in  southern  England. 

The  British  Government  was  prompt  to  reward  two  of 
the  men  of  Islay  for  what  they  did  in  heroic  aid  of  the 
Tuscania's  company.  They  were  Robert  Morrison,  of 
Upper  Killeyan,  and  Duncan  Campbell,  of  Stremnish,  both 
coastwatchers. 

Morrison  saved  the  lives  of  three  American  soldiers. 
First  he  waded  into  the  surf  up  to  his  neck  and  threw  a 
rope  to  two  exhausted  men  clinging  to  a  rock,  being  able 
thus  to  haul  them  ashore.  Then  he  scaled  a  cliff  250  feet 
high  and  rescued  another  American  soldier  who  had 
climbed  part  way  up  the  cliff  and  was  in  a  perilous  posi- 
tion, being  too  weak  to  hang  there  much  longer.  Morrison 
carried  this  man  to  safety  on  his  back.  Also  he  pro- 
vided accommodations  for  ninety  men  in  his  small  house 
of  three  rooms.  One  man  died  there  from  exhaustion 
while  another,  ill  with  pneumonia,  was  cared  for  by  Mor- 
rison's mother  and  sister  until  he,  too,  died.  Morrison  not 


THE  LESSON  OF  THE  TUSCANIA  35 

only  used  his  entire  supply  of  food  in  taking  care  of  his 
unexpected  guests,  but  gave  away  all  of  his  extra  clothing. 
He  stoutly  refused  to  accept  any  payment  for  his  services. 
The  American  Red  Cross  officer  in  charge  of  the  work  on 
this  occasion  reported :  "  In  my  opinion  he  is  one  of  the 
greatest  heroes  I  have  ever  heard  of." 

Campbell  saved  the  life  of  a  soldier  who  had  been  thrown 
up  on  the  side  of  an  almost  inaccessible  cliff,  and  was 
lying  there  helpless  and  worn  out.  Campbell  climbed  to 
him  with  the  greatest  difficulty  and  carried  him  down.  He 
accommodated  fourteen  survivors  in  his  small  farm  house, 
providing  them  with  clothing  as  well  as  food.  And  he  too 
declined  to  consider  acceptance  of  payment  for  what  he 
had  done. 

Now  we  come  to  the  lesson  which  the  Tuscania  disaster 
taught  the  Red  Cross.  That  there  was  a  lesson  in  it  be- 
came apparent  to  the  Red  Cross  representatives  as  soon  as 
they  were  confronted  by  the  survivors  at  Larne.  And  at 
once  the  plans  for  the  future  were  laid,  even  while  the 
wants  of  those  shipwrecked  men  were  being  attended. 

The  first  resolution  taken  by  the  Red  Cross  men  was  that 
the  organization  should  be  immediately  and  adequately  pre- 
pared to  deal  with  tragic  events  of  this  kind  and  not  be  de- 
pendent upon  either  the  British  Red  Cross  or  the  hospi- 
tality of  British  camps  or  of  the  people  of  the  towns  in 
which  shipwrecked  men  might  chance  to  land.  This  was 
at  a  time  in  which  the  submarine  menace  off  the  north 
coast  of  Ireland  was  very  grave  and  American  troopships 
were  in  constant  passage  along  it.  Any  day  news  might 
come  that  another  had  been  sent  to  the  bottom. 

It  was  resolved,  therefore,  to  establish  five  emergency 
stations  along  the  northern  coast  of  Ireland  with  a  well 
stocked  warehouse  in  each  and  to  arrange  for  motor  trans- 
port, for  the  billeting  of  men  in  outlying  points  at  which 
there  were  no  British  camps,  and  for  a  hospital  visiting 
service.  The  plight  of  the  Tuscania  s  men  made  clear  the 


36  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

various  kinds  of  supplies  required  not  only  at  the  moment 
that  survivors  should  land  but  subsequently,  as  the  distribu- 
tion of  equipment  at  Winchester  had  demonstrated. 

The  result  of  this  was  that  within  two  weeks  after  the 
sinking  of  the  Tuscania  the  American  Red  Cross  had  estab- 
lished a  central  warehouse  for  an  emergency  station  at 
Belfast,  with  similar  stations  and  warehouses  at  Lame, 
Ballycastle,  Londonderry,  and  Buncrana,  five  points  spread 
fan-wise  along  the  northeastern  coast  of  Ireland  from 
the  lower  part  of  the  North  Channel  to  a  point  which  was 
far  oceanward.  It  was  at  these  points  on  the  mainland  to 
which  the  men  of  torpedoed  vessels  would  be  most  likely 
to  come. 

As  an  equipment  of  these  warehouses  the  Red  Cross  pur- 
chased sufficient  supplies  of  woolen  underclothing,  toilet 
articles,  overcoats,  tunics  and  caps,  blankets,  light  canvas 
shoes,  etc.,  to  outfit  completely  six  thousand  men.  Re- 
membering the  Island  of  May,  this  remote  place,  but  one 
which  might  again  figure  in  the  hazard  of  adjacent  waters, 
the  R-ed  Cross  covered  it  in  two  ways,  by  a  reserve  stock  of 
supplies  sent  to  Liverpool  and  by  getting  assurances  from 
the  British  Admiralty  that  in  case  any  ships  or  survivors 
should  go  ashore  there  it  would  furnish  a  destroyer  or 
trawlers  to  take  Red  Cross  representatives  and  supplies 
thither  immediately. 

Motor  transport  was  organized  in  Belfast  by  obtaining 
the  use  of  a  dozen  private  cars  which  had  hitherto  been  out 
of  service  by  reason  of  the  impossibility  of  obtaining  gaso- 
line during  the  war.  These  were  held  in  reserve  under 
telephone  call  in  readiness  to  respond  at  a  moment's  notice 
for  the  conveyance  of  supplies  and  personnel  to  any  des- 
ignated point.  The  owners  of  the  cars  themselves  volun- 
teered as  drivers.  As  Belfast  was  the  base  of  operations 
a  branch  of  the  London  Chapter  of  the  American  Red  Cross 
was  founded  there  similar  to  the  ones  previously  established 
at  Liverpool  and  Southampton.  Billeting  arrangements 
were  completed  at  Larne  and  Ballycastle,  hotels  and  pub- 


THE  LESSON  OF  THE  TUSCANIA  37 

lie  halls  in  these  places  being  placed  at  the  service  of  the 
Red  Cross  whenever  an  emergency  should  require  their 

use- 

As  it  was  considered  that  there  was  danger  of  ships  be- 
ing torpedoed  off  the  southwestern  coast  of  Ireland  and  at 
the  entrance  of  the  waterway  between  it  and  England,  the 
Red  Cross  arranged  with  the  United  States  Navy  for  the 
establishment  of  equipment  warehouses  at  Queenstown  and 
at  Berehaven,  in  Bantry  Bay.  A  large  quantity  of  sup- 
plies was  sent  to  each  of  these  points  in  charge  of  navy 
paymasters. 

As  the  location  and  equipment  of  these  several  stations 
fortified  the  Red  Cross  against  being  dismayed  or  taken  un- 
aware by  sudden  off-coast  disaster,  the  Commission  im- 
mediately undertook  a  thoroughly  comprehensive  extension 
of  this  plan  of  preparedness.  It  created  the  Bureau  of 
Emergency  Service  and  relegated  to  it  the  problem  of 
coordinating  the  work  of  the  relief  and  supply  departments 
and  of  making  all  necessary  arrangements  in  advance  for 
anything  which  might  happen.  It  was  the  function  of  the 
Bureau  to  f  orsee  every  possible  contingency  and  provide  the 
working  arrangements  to  meet  it. 

This  required  a  very  careful  study  of  the  transport  map 
of  Great  Britain  and  the  establishment  of  central  depots  at 
numerous  points  around  the  coasts  of  the  British  Isles, 
these  locations  being  so  selected  that  any  point  on  the  coasts 
might  be  reached  with  the  least  possible  delay.  More  than 
thirty  of  these  emergency  stations  were  established.  The 
plan  adopted  had  as  its  base  the  three  central  warehouses 
of  the  Red  Cross,  located  in  London,  Liverpool  and  Win- 
chester. Then  there  were  five  sub-central  warehouse  sta- 
tions: Southampton,  Plymouth,  Cardiff,  Belfast  and  Glas- 
gow. Southampton  covered  the  south  of  England  and  the 
Channel  ports;  Plymouth  covered  the  southwestern  coast 
of  England  and  the  Bristol  Channel;  Cardiff  covered  the 
Welsh  coast;  Belfast  that  of  Ireland,  and  Glasgow  the 
Scottish  coast. 


38  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

Beyond  the  sub-central  warehouses  were  the  smaller 
emergency  supply  depots.  Two  of  these  were  in  the  South- 
ampton district,  four  in  that  of  Plymouth,  four  in  the 
Cardiff  territory,  six  in  Ireland  and  five  in  Scotland. 
Under  the  direct  supervision  of  London  Headquarters  were 
two  supply  depots  covering  the  Thames  estuary  and  the 
southeastern  coast,  one  at  Brighton  and  the  other  at  Dover. 

From  these  thirty-odd  well  chosen  points  it  was  possible 
to  reach  any  place  on  the  coast  within  three  or  hour  hours 
either  by  train  or  motor  transport.  In  the  matter  of  sup- 
plies, each  of  the  small  emergency  supply  stations  was 
equipped  to  take  care  of  from  100  to  500  men.  If  a  dis- 
aster proved  too  great  for  such  a  station,  additional  ma- 
terial to  any  amount  could  be  transported  thither  in  a  few 
hours  from  the  nearest  central  warehouse.  At  each  depot 
arrangements  were  made  for  motor  transports  to  serve  in 
such  a  contingency  as  well  as  for  the  delivery  of  supplies 
at  the  actual  scene  of  disaster.  Distances  by  road  and 
train  were  carefully  worked  out  in  advance,  not  only  in 
mileage  but  in  the  number  of  hours  by  both  routes  between 
points.  Whenever  the  emergency  call  should  come,  the 
Red  Cross  man,  map  and  distance  table  in  hand,  could 
bring  the  well-adjusted  machinery  into  instant  action. 

As  Fate  decreed  it,  a  call  did  come  only  a  few  months 
later  which  tested  to  the  utmost  the  capabilities  of  the 
American  Eed  Cross.  The  task  of  answering  it  fell,  not 
to  the  stations  created  in  the  elaborated  plan  of  relief,  but 
to  the  first  to  be  established  after  the  sinking  of  the  troop- 
ship Tuscania,  those  along  the  rough  northern  rim  of  the 
coast  of  Ireland.  The  call  came  from  the  wrecked 
Otranto,  and  it  found  the  Red  Cross  prepared  almost  to  the 
point  of  foresight  of  that  very  catastrophe. 

There  was  no  doubt  of  the  value  of  the  lesson  of  the 
Tuscania. 

Unfortunately,  there  was  a  third  American  troopship 
disaster  in  1918,  which  resulted  in  the  loss  of  fifty-five 


THE  LESSON  OF  THE  TUSCANIA  39 

American  soldiers.  The  Moldavia,  a  British  auxiliary 
cruiser,  was  sunk  in  the  English  Channel  by  torpedo  fire  at 
2  :30  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  May  23rd.  The  ship  was 
strongly  convoyed  and  the  German  submarine  had  to  pen- 
etrate the  cordon  of  destroyers,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Tus- 

\j 

cania,  to  hurl  her  torpedo.  But  almost  immediately  after- 
ward the  destroyers  closed  in  and  blew  up  the  submarine 
with  depth  bombs. 

Aboard  the  Moldavia  were  two  companies  of  American 
soldiers,  A  and  B  of  the  58th  Infantry.  One  man 
of  A  Company  and  fifty-three  of  B  Company  were  lost  on 
the  ship  and  one  man  of  the  latter  company  died  of  his  in- 
juries before  reaching  land.  Most  of  the  men  lost  were 
in  the  fore  part  of  the  vessel  and  were  either  killed  by  the 
explosion  of  the  torpedo  or  cut  off  from  all  chance  of  escape 
by  the  blocking  of  the  gangways. 

The  American  Red  Cross  received  notice  of  the  torpedo- 
ing from  American  Army  Headquarters  within  a  few  hours 
after  its  occurrence  and  instantly  two  Red  Cross  repre- 
sentatives hastened  to  Dover  with  army  officers  detailed 
from  the  London  base.  The  survivors  had  already  been 
landed  and  conveyed  to  a  British  Rest  Camp  at  Dover. 
Thither  the  Red  Cross  representatives  carried  a  large  sum 
of  money  and  considerable  quantities  of  supplies.  An 
officer  of  the  Home  Communication  Service  was  present 
and  took  charge  of  much  of  the  relief  work,  in  addition  to 
the  exacting  tasks  of  his  own  particular  department. 

Inspection  of  the  survivors  disclosed  their  immediate 
needs  and  the  supplies,  including  sixty  complete  kit  bags, 
were  soon  distributed.  The  army  paymaster  had  ar- 
ranged to  give  to  all  the  survivors,  both  officers  and  men, 
a  certain  advance  on  their  pay  and  where  this  was  found  to 
be  insufficient  for  pressing  needs,  the  Red  Cross  was  pre- 
pared to  supplement  it  upon  the  recommendation  of  the 
military  officials  in  charge.  Each  officer  of  the  two  detach- 
ments was  informed  that  the  Red  Cross  would  be  glad  to 
assist  in  the  replacement  of  his  lost  outfit,  and  this  offer 


40  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

was  at  once  accepted.  When  these  officers  had  made  state- 
ments of  their  losses  and  the  amounts  required  to  refurnish 
them  with  kits,  the  Red  Cross  lent  them  the  necessary 
money  and  arranged  to  have  them  sent  to  London  to  pur- 
chase their  new  equipment  there. 

Medical  supplies  for  the  survivors  were  placed  at  the 
disposal  of  the  army  hospital  authorities  and  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  Home  Communication  Service  visited  the 
hospital  in  which  three  injured  men  were  being  cared  for 
and  made  arrangements  to  supply  them  with  everything 
needful  which  was  not  obtainable  from  the  hospital  store- 
room. He  also  visited  the  hospital  ship  Liberty,  on  board 
which  one  of  the  American  soldiers  had  died. 

The  Home  Communication  Service  succeeded  in  compil- 
ing a  complete  list  of  the  victims  and  the  names  and  ad- 
dresses of  their  next  of  kin  in  America,  and  this  list, 
authenticated  and  official,  reached  Washing-ton  Headquar- 
ters by  cable  in  less  than  five  days  after  the  date  of  the  disr 
aster,  which  is  probably  a  record  for  an  official  list  on  an 
occasion  of  that  kind.  The  rapid  work  of  the  Home  Com- 
munication Service  in  this  instance  was  largely  due  to  the 
efficient  cooperation  of  the  non-commissioned  officers  in 
charge  of  the  company  records.  At  great  risk  to  their  lives, 
these  officers  had  succeeded  in  saving  the  rosters  and  other 
papers  of  their  detachments  while  the  Moldavia  was 
literally  sinking  under  them. 

The  survivors  of  the  Moldavia  remained  in  Dover  for 
about  a  week  and  were  then  transferred  to  the  American 
Army  Rest  Camp  at  Winchester,  whence  they  were  sent 
on  to  France. 

In  the  official  announcement  of  the  sinking  issued  a  few 
days  afterward  by  the  British  Admiralty  it  was  stated  that : 

"  His  Majesty's  armed  mercantile  cruiser  Moldavia,  Captain 
A.  H.  Smyth,  was  torpedoed  and  sunk  on  the  morning  of  the 
23rd.  There  were  no  casualties  among  the  crew,  but  of  the 
American  troops  on  board  56  are  up  to  the  present  unaccounted 
for  and  it  is  feared  that  they  were  killed  in  one  compartment 
by  the  explosion." 


THE  LESSON  OF  THE  TUSCANIA  41 

The  establishment  of  the  four  cemeteries  for  the  lost  men 
of  the  Tuscania  made  the  bleak  and  remote  Island  of  Islay 
a  very  important  point  on  the  American  Ked  Cross  map  of 
the  British  Isles.  The  creation,  later  in  the  year,  of  the 
cemetery  at  Kilchoman  for  the  victims  of  the  Otranto  re- 
grettably emphasized  the  importance  of  this  little-known 
region  in  the  rocky  western  part  of  Scotland. 

Soon  after  the  sinking  of  the  Tuscania  the  suggestion 
was  made  at  Red  Cross  Headquarters  in  London  that  the 
installation  of  a  suitable  monument  on  Islay  should  be  con- 
sidered as  a  means  of  paying  tribute  to  the  memory  of  the 
American  soldiers  who  had  lost  their  lives  there. 

The  matter  of  designating  thus  only  one  particular  group 
of  Americans  and  erecting  a  monument  to  them  and  not  to 
others  was,  of  course,  duly  considered,  but  it  was  decided 
that  such  a  question  did  not  fairly  arise.  The  reasons 
were :  first,  that  the  Tuscania3 's  dead  represented,  in  a  way, 
the  first  American  casualties  in  the  war ;  second,  that  their 
graves  were  remote  from  the  general  theater  of  war  and 
were  likely  to  be  neglected  unless  some  especial  action  of 
this  sort  were  taken,  and  third,  that  the  sinking  of  the 
Tuscania  was,  as  one  might  say,  a  special  occasion,  like  a 
particular  battle. 

Therefore  it  was  decided  that  such  a  monument  should 
be  erected.  Several  designs  were  prepared  and  tentative 
approval  was  given  to  one  specifying  the  erection  of  a 
simple  obelisk  or  shaft  of  granite  on  the  Mull  of  Oa,  the 
high-flung  promontory  on  the  southernmost  tip  of  the 
Island  of  Islay,  close  beside  two  of  the  Tuscania  ceme- 
teries and  overlooking  the  channel  in  which  she  was 
torpedoed. 

With  the  occurrence  of  the  Otranto  disaster,  the  plans 
for  the  monument  were  so  modified  that  it  should  serve  as 
a  memorial  to  the  dead  of  both  troopships  and  a  new  de- 
sign for  it  was  adopted.  A  plain  granite  shaft  was  held 
to  be  unsuited  to  the  rough,  rocky  surroundings  and  not 
in  keeping  with  the  usual  type  of  monument  set  up  in  this 


42  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

part  of  Scotland.  Islay  folks  were  accustomed  to  mark 
their  important  graves  or  sites  with  cairns,  or  towers,  built 
of  rough-hewn  native  stone.  In  view  of  this,  the  American 
Red  Cross  adopted  the  design  of  a  watch-tower  sixty  feet 
in  height  and  twenty  feet  in  diameter  at  the  base,  to  be 
constructed  of  stone  gathered  in  the  neighboring  fields  or 
from  the  cliffs.  After  this  plan  had  been  approved,  Presi- 
dent Wilson  volunteered  to  give  a  bronze  wreath  to  be 
placed  upon  the  monument  which,  from  its  rocky  head- 
land five  hundred  feet  above  the  sea,  also  overlooks  the  spot 
at  which  the  Otranto  was  struck  by  the  Kashmir. 

On  one  face  of  this  monument  will  appear  the  following 

inscription : 

Sacred 

to  the 

Immortal  Memory 

of  those 

American  Soldiers  and  Sailors 
Who  gave  their  lives 

for 
Their  Country 

in  the 
Wrecks  of  the  Transports 

TUSCANIA  AND   OTRANTO 

February  5th  1918         October  6th  1918 

This  Monument  was  Erected  by 

The  American  National  Bed  Cross 

Near  the  Spot  where  so  many  of  the 

Victims    of   the   Disasters 

Sleep 

in 
Everlasting  Peace 

"  On  Fame's  eternal  camping  ground 

Their  silent  tents  are  spread 
While  Glory  keeps,  with  solemn  round, 

The  bivouac  of  the  Dead." 

In  addition  to  this  inscription,  the  Islay  monument  will 
bear  on  its  sides  large  bronze  tablets  setting  forth  the 
names  of  all  the  victims  of  the  two  transport  disasters,  with 
their  rank  and  regimental  distinctions. 


THE  LESSON  OF  THE  TUSCANIA       43 

The  ground  about  the  monument,  four  acres  in  extent, 
looking  out  straight  across  the  blue  Atlantic,  was  given  to 
the  American  Red  Cross  by  the  owner,  Captain  Ian 
Kamsay,  who  donated  also  the  land  for  three  of  the  Tus- 
cania  cemeteries,  those  at  Killeyan,  Kinibus,  and  Kil- 
naughton.  The  title  to  these  four  pieces  of  property  was 
taken  over  by  the  American  National  Red  Cross  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  wish  of  Captain  Ramsay.  Title  has 
similarly  been  taken  from  Mr.  Hugh  Morrison,  the  Laird 
of  Islay,  for  the  Otranto  cemetery  at  Kilchoman  and  for 
the  fourth  Tuscania  cemetery  at  Port  Charlotte.  Thus, 
all  five  of  the  Islay  cemeteries  in  which  American  soldiers 
are  buried,  as  well  as  the  site  of  the  monument,  are  now 
the  property  of  the  American  Red  Cross. 

The  American  burial  places  on  Islay  and  the  number  of 
graves  in  each  are  as  follows : 

Killeyan,  Mull  of  Oa 10  Tuscania  graves 

Kinibus,  Mull  of  Oa   36  Tuscania  graves 

Kilnaughton,  Port  Ellen    87  Tuscania  graves 

Port    Charlotte    50  Tuscania  graves 

Kilchoman     315  Otranto  graves 

The  Killeyan  and  Kinibus  cemeteries  lie  along  the  cliffs, 
just  below  the  Islay  monument,  and  Kilnaughton  cemetery 
is  about  four  miles  to  the  northeast.  Port  Charlotte  and 
Kilchoman  are  to  the  northwest  and,  approximately,  nine 
and  twelve  miles  respectively  from  the  headland  of  the 
Mull  of  Oa. 

During  the  year,  Red  Cross  officers  paid  several  visits 
to  these  cemeteries  which  have  been  carefully  fenced  in  and 
are  being  well  cared  for  in  every  way.  Provision  for  their 
permanent  maintenance  was  made  through  the  gift  of  a 
fund  of  five  hundred  pounds  sterling  in  perpetual  trust 
to  the  Glasgow  Islay  Association,  which  has  taken  a  keen 
interest  in  the  preservation  and  up-keep  of  these  reserva- 
tions. Local  agencies  on  the  island  have  given  the  ceme- 
teries a  great  deal  of  attention  and  never,  from  the  very 


44  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

first,  have  the  graves  been  bare  of  flowers  or  evergreens  and 
American  flags. 

With  the  coming  of  Memorial  Day,  1919,  the  Eed  Cross 
made  services  in  the  Islay  Cemeteries  an  especial  feature 
of  a  day  which  was  celebrated  in  every  corner  of  Europe 
in  which  Americans  were  gathered.  For  the  bodies  of 
many  American  soldiers  lie  in  France ;  there  are  graves  in 
the  United  Kingdom ;  and  many  others  scattered  through- 
out Europe.  Wide  indeed  has  become  the  significance  of 
Memorial  Day. 

The  opening  ceremony  of  that  day  in  behalf  of  those  who 
had  lost  their  lives  on  sinking  vessels  was  the  scattering  of 
flowers  on  the  water  at  Liverpool  and  Kingstown  and  also 
off  the  western  shores  of  Islay  so  that  the  tide  might  sweep 
the  blossoms  out  to  the  scenes  of  destruction  and  tragedy. 

On  distant  Islay,  the  shepherds  and  fisherfolk  gathered 
with  the  same  reveirential  enthusiasm  for  the  memorial 
services  that  they  had  shown  when  the  dead  of  the  troop- 
ships were  buried  on  their  island.  At  Kilchoman,  where 
three  hundred  and  fifteen  American  soldiers  and  seventy- 
two  British  sailors  of  the  Otranto  lie  side  by  side,  the  is- 
landers met  in  a  body  at  11  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  May 
30th  a  short  distance  from  the  cemetery.  They  had  come 
even  from  comparatively  remote  parts  of  their  rugged  re- 
gion, two  young  girls  in  the  party  having  walked  eleven 
rough  miles  in  order  to  be  present.  Led  by  two  pipers  play- 
ing "  The  Scottish  Lament,"  the  procession  marched  slowly 
to  the  graves,  bearing  the  flags  of  the  United  States,  Great 
Britain  and  the  Red  Cross  close  behind  the  pipers.  The 
service  was  conducted  by  Padre  Grant,  who  had  read  the 
burial  ritual  there  only  seven  months  before.  All  the  graves 
were  decorated  with  American  flags  and  in  addition  to  the 
prayer,  the  singing  of  psalms  and  an  address  by  Mr.  Grant, 
a  chorus  of  children's  voices  sang  "  The  Star-Spangled 
Banner  v  and  "  God  Save  the  King."  After  this  the  clus- 
ters of  hardy  flowers,  which  the  good  folk  had  gathered  in 
their  dooryards,  were  placed  upon  the  graves  and  the  little 
party  went  its  slow  way  back  across  the  downs. 


THE  LESSON  OF  THE  TUSCANIA  45 

More  than  five  hundred  persons  attended  the  services 
which  were  conducted  in  Kilnaughton  Cemetery,  by  the 
Rev.  James  Mackinnon,  rector  of  Kilnaughton  Parish 
Church,  assisted  by  three  other  ministers.  A  small  organ, 
which  had  been  borne  many  miles,  was  set  up  in  the  center 
of  the  cemetery  and  a  body  of  150  school  children  led  the 
singing  of  hymns  and  the  two  national  anthems.  Each  of 
these  children  carried  a  small  bouquet  of  flowers  and  at 
the  close  of  the  service  they  marched  in  single  file  to  the 
large  American  flag  which  flew  in  one  corner  of  the  ceme- 
tery, opposite  an  equally  large  British  "  Union  Jack,"  and 
there  placed  their  blossoms  which,  later,  were  laid  upon  the 
graves. 

It  was  not  possible  to  hold  services  at  the  three  ceme- 
teries of  Port  Charlotte,  Killeyan  and  Kinibus,  but  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Red  Cross  and  a  committee  of  women  of 
Islay  visited  each  and  decorated  the  graves  of  the  Ameri- 
cans with  flags  and  flowers. 

In  paying  this  tribute  to  the  men  buried  on  Islay  the  Red 
Cross  did  not  overlook  the  solitary  grave  of  an  American 
soldier,  on  the  neighboring  Island  of  Muck.  This  is  an  al- 
most out-of-the-world  place,  but  it  holds  the  grave  of  Tom 
Davis,  who  was  on  the  Otranto.  A  long  time  after  the 
disaster  his  body  was  washed  up  on  the  island  and  its  five 
inhabitants  made  a  coffin  for  it  from  the  bits  of  wreckage 
which  came  ashore.  It  was  the  only  material  they  could 
obtain  for  the  purpose,  and  when  they  had  buried  Tom 
Davis  in  a  silence  which  they  meant  to  serve  as  a  ritual, 
word  of  him  and  his  resting  place  was  sent  to  the  Red  Cross 
in  England. 

That  this  lonely  grave  might  be  reached  in  time  to  dec- 
orate it  with  the  others,  a  Red  Cross  party  set  out  from 
London  more  than  a  week  before  May  30th,  and  got  to  their 
remote  destination  by  hiring  a  fishing  smack  in  Argyle- 
shire.  So  Tom  Davis,  although  he  was  all  alone,  was  re- 
membered with  all  the  others  and  a  flag  and  a  wreath  were 
laid  upon  his  grave. 


46  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

The  American  Red  Cross  took  part  in  services  at  fifty 
different  places  in  the  British  Isles  on  Memorial  Day,  1919. 
The  more  extended  services  were  held  at  Brookwood,  near 
London,  where  there  are  129  American  graves,  and  at  Win- 
chester, with  its  553  graves;  at  Liverpool,  702  graves,  and 
at  Glasgow  where  113  Americans  are  buried.  And  in 
tribute  to  one  whose  name  is  known  to  the  armies  of  the 
world,  a  deputation  of  American  Red  Cross  nurses  placed 
wreaths  and  flowers  on  the  grave  of  Florence  Nightingale 
at  South  Wellow,  near  Romsey. 

In  Brookwood  Cemetery  a  great  concourse  of  people 
gathered  for  the  memorial  service.  The  Prince  of  Wales, 
who  sent  a  wreath  of  laurels,  orchids  and  gardenias,  was 
represented  by  Captain  the  Hon.  Piers  Legh,  and  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury  and  the  Bishop  of  London  by  their 
chaplains.  As  Mr.  Davis,  the  American  Ambassador,  had 
been  called  to  France  his  place  was  taken  by  Consul  Gen- 
eral Skinner.  General  Biddle,  commanding  the  Ameri- 
can forces  in  Great  Britain,  was  present  as  were  Admiral 
Knapp,  the  successor  of  Admiral  Sims ;  Brigadier  General 
Kenyon,  late  of  the  American  War  Mission;  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Bullock,  of  the  Canadian  Expeditionary  Force; 
Viscountess  Harcourt,  clad  in  the  uniform  of  a  Lady  of  St. 
John;  and  the  Earl  of  Meath.  The  band  of  the  1st  Bat- 
talion of  the  Duke  of  Cornwall's  Light  Infantry  provided 
the  music  incidental  to  the  service.  After  the  prayers, 
Chaplain  Roger  B.  Anderson  delivered  an  eloquent  ad- 
dress. In  closing  he  said :  "  Who  would  have  dreamed 
five  years  ago  that  a  crowd  of  Americans  would  be  stand- 
ing here  in  England  today  at  the  graves  of  American 
dead  ? " 


CHAPTER  III 

WHEN    TJIE    COMMISSION    WAS    BORN 

THE  invaluable  and  far-reaching  work  which  the  Amer- 
ican Red  Cross  was  to  perform  in  the  British  Isles 
was  foreshadowed  by  so  slight  a  thing  as  the  chance  remark 
of  an  American  Army  officer.  Specifically,  this  chance  re- 
mark was  the  preface  to  the  establishment  of  the  first  hospi- 
tal to  be  constructed  in  England  for  American  troops. 

One  day  in  London,  in  the  latter  part  of  October,  1917, 
Colonel  William  Lassiter,  Military  Attache  of  the  Ameri- 
can Embassy,  said  to  Major  William  Endicott,  then  rep- 
resentative in  England  of  the  Red  Cross  Paris  staff : 

"  I  have  an  inkling  that  American  troops  will  very  soon 
begin  to  trickle  through  Great  Britain  on  their  way  to 
France.  This,  mind  you,  is  only  gossip  that  I  have  heard, 
but  it  may  prove  to  be  true.  In  that  case  Liverpool  is  the 
most  probable  port  of  debarkation  and  I  think  that  the 
American  Red  Cross  should  do  something  there." 

At  that  time  there  were  no  American  soldiers  in  England 
save  one  or  two  small  detachments  of  air-service  mechanics, 
"  ground  men  "  sent  across  for  finishing  instruction  and  to 
release  much-needed  British  mechanics  to  duty  with  their 
own  flying  corps.  Major  Endicott's  work,  as  he  himself 
characterized  it,  was  mainly  that  of  "  purchasing  agent ' 
for  the  Commission  in  Erance.  Experience  had  shown 
that  many  supplies  urgently  required  for  the  use  of  the  Red 
Cross  in  Continental  Europe  could  be  bought  in  England 
when  they  could  not  be  obtained  for  love  or  money  in  either 
Erance  or  Switzerland.  So,  to  Major  Endicott  was  en- 
trusted the  diplomatic  task  of  making  these  purchases  when 
emergency  rendered  it  out  of  the  question  to  await  ship- 
ments from  the  United  States.  Incidentally,  no  one  save  a 

47 


48  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

diplomat  could  ever  have  negotiated  these  purchases,  so 
many  were  the  difficulties  surrounding  the  acquisition  of 
commodities  employed  in  war. 

A  London  Chapter  of  the  American  Red  Cross  was  in 
existence  at  this  time,  with  headquarters  at  No.  40 
Grosvenor  Gardens,  and  there  Major  Endicott  established 
his  office  on  September  10, 1917,  in  a  room  the  Chapter  lent 
him. 

'No  sooner  had  he  hung  up  his  cap  than  the  orders  from 
the  Commission  in  France  began  pouring  in  upon  him. 
Sometimes  as  many  as  fifty  came  in  a  single  day.  The 
goods  they  specified  ranged  from  medicines  to  stoves,  from 
tents  to  motor  cars,  calling  upon  the  resources  of  practically 
every  industry  engaged  in  war  production.  It  was  never 
an  easy  thing  to  make  these  purchases.  Permits  were  in- 
variably necessary  to  obtain  products  involving  the  use  of 
metal  or  of  wood  as  these  two  staples  were  under  control 
of  the  British  authorities,  whose  demands,  naturally 
enough,  were  constant  and  almost  exhaustive.  But, 
through  happy  negotiations  with  the  War  Office  and  the 
British  Red  Cross,  which  was  unfailing  in  its  kind  aid, 
Major  Endicott  succeeded  in  maintaining  an  uninterrupted 
flow  of  supplies  across  the  channel.  As  he  said  afterward, 
"  I  am  sure  that  I  bought  a  whole  department  store  in 
England  and  shipped  it  over  to  France ! ' 

Thus,  for  a  period  of  several  weeks,  Major  Endicott  was 
engaged  in  a  service  which,  although  fundamentally  im- 
portant to  the  success  of  the  Red  Cross  in  Continental 
Europe,  gave  no  promise  whatever  of  a  broader  activity  in 
England.  Practically  every  Red  Cross  thought  was  cen- 
tered upon  the  sore  needs  of  France,  Belgium  and  Italy 
and  of  the  other  countries  in  which  actual  warfare  was 
raging.  England  offered  no  problems  save  those  incidental 
to  the  purchase  of  goods  in  a  difficult  market.  It  had 
been  announced  that  the  coming  American  troops,  as  an 
army,  were  to  be  convoyed  directly  to  France,  that  they 
were  to  occupy  the  sectors  on  the  right  flank  of  the  battle 


WHEN  THE  COMMISSION  WAS  BORN  49 

line-  -in  the  neighborhood  of  Toul  -  -and  that  extensive 
hospital  accommodations  for  all  the  wounded  would  be  pro- 
vided in  the  south  of  France.  In  fine,  England  was  quite 
out  of  it  all  —  on  the  side  lines,  as  it  were. 

But,  with  Colonel  Lassiter's  chance  remark,  the  situa- 
tion, the  outlook,  everything  was  changed  in  an  instant. 
And  a  few  clays  later,  when  he  informed  Major  Endicott  of 
his  receipt  of  an  official  cablegram  announcing  definitely 
that  American  troops  were  to  come  to  England  on  their  way 
to  France  and  the  front,  the  vital  role  which  the  American 
Ked  Cross  was  destined  ultimately  to  play  in  Great  Britain 
became  a  definite  thing. 

"  The  men  are  coming  to  Liverpool,"  Colonel  Lassiter 
added,  "  but  in  small  units  only  and  not  on  army  trans- 
ports, but  in  the  available  passenger  space  on  commercial 
steamships.  Will  not  the  Ked  Cross  establish  a  small  hos- 
pital at  Liverpool  for  those  who  arrive  sick?  I  have  no 
force  with  which  to  do  this  sort  of  thing  and  all  of  the 
hospitals  there,  both  military  and  civilian,  are  already 
overcrowded  with  the  British." 

"  How  large  a  hospital  do  you  want? ''  Major  Endicott 
asked,  by  way  of  affirmative. 

"  Just  a  small  one,"  was  the  reply.  "  About  one  hun- 
dred beds,  I  should  say.  That  will  give  us  ample  accom- 
modation for  our  men  who  may  be  in  bad  shape  when  they 
land." 

The  Major's  reply  was  immediate. 

"  You  shall  have  that  hospital  just  as  soon  as  human 
hands  can  provide  it,"  he  said. 

In  this  way  came  to  Major  Endicott  the  first  indication 
that  his  task  in  England  was  to  be  something  more  than 
that  of  purchasing  goods  for  the  Commission  in  France,  of 
which,  by  the  way,  he  was  still  a  member.  Now,  although 
only  "  small  units  "  of  men  were  on  the  horizon,  a  hospital 
was  also  there  and  this  meant  but  one  thing,  an  expansion 
of  the  work  until  it  should  come  into  actual  contact  with 
the  Army. 


50  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

As  if  Colonel  Lassiter's  news  had  been  a  trumpet  call 
there  was  a  sudden  and  hitherto  unexpected  American  ac- 
tivity in  London.  The  War  Department  at  Washington 
established  an  Army  Base  in  England,  officially  designated 
as  Base  Section  3,  with  headquarters  in  London  and  Major 
General  George  T.  Bartlett  in  command,  and  the  Ameri- 
can Red  Cross  created  a  Commission  for  Great  Britain 
with  Major  Endicott,  promoted  to  Lieutenant  Colonel,  at  its 
head.  The  Deputy  Commissioner  was  Captain  Edgar  H. 
Wells,  who  had  been  sent  from  America  the  week  before 
Colonel  Endicott' s  arrival  to  aid  the  London  Chapter  in 
the  conduct  of  its  growing  affairs. 

Almost  over  night  these  important  events  occurred  and 
while  they  set  many  heads  to  wondering  they  threw  a  light 
far  into  the  future. 

Although  by  this  time  Colonel  Endicott's  staff  had  been 
augmented,  through  the  arrival  of  clerks  and  accountants 
from  Paris,  until  its  personnel  numbered  five,  it  included 
nothing  which  even  remotely  resembled  a  construction 
bureau,  and  this  was  the  one  thing  now  imperatively  im- 
portant. So,  in  order  that  there  should  be  no  delay  in  pro- 
viding the  promised  hospital  at  Liverpool,  Colonel  Endi- 
cott  asked  the  British  War  Office  for  the  services  of  an  en- 
gineer for  aid  in  an  undertaking  which,  as  he  explained, 
would  relieve  English  hospitals  of  the  task  of  caring  for 
arriving  American  soldiers. 

In  response  to  this  request  the  War  Office  assigned  a 
captain  of  the  Royal  Engineers,  an  officer  of  long  experi- 
ence in  the  conversion  of  buildings  for  British  hospital 
needs,  to  assist  the  Red  Cross  in  every  way. 

Colonel  Endicott  went  at  once  to  Liverpool,  where  that 
officer  was  stationed,  and  with  him  made  an  inspection,  last- 
ing many  days,  of  all  the  buildings  in  and  about  the  port 
which  could  be  rearranged  expeditiously  and  adequately 
for  the  purposes  of  a  hospital. 

The  result  of  this  search  was  the  selection  of  an  estate 
known  as  Mossley  Hill,  which  possessed  many  natural  ad- 


WHEN  THE  COMMISSION  WAS  BORN  51 

vantages  and  was  within  fifteen  minutes  by  motor  run  from 
the  Liverpool  docks.  Its  extensive  park  included  a  manor 
house  of  many  rooms,  a  stable  and  garage,  greenhouses,  a 
gardener's  cottage  and  the  usual  appurtenances  of  an  Eng- 
lish country  estate.  It  was  the  property  of  Mr.  Edmund 
K.  Muspratt,  a  former  Lord  Mayor  of  Liverpool. 

Upon  the  advice  of  the  British  engineer,  negotiations  for 
its  rental  were  at  once  undertaken,  but,  at  the  outset, 
Colonel  Endicott  and  Mr.  Muspratt  could  reach  no  agree- 
ment as  to  terms.  In  the  end,  however,  Mr.  Muspratt's 
son,  who  was  then  Lord  Mayor  of  Liverpool,  effected  a 
lease  of  the  entire  property  to  the  Red  Cross  for  the 
nominal  sum  of  twenty  pounds,  about  one  hundred  dollars, 
a  year,  and  on  November  19,  1917,  the  lease  was  signed 
—  laying  the  "  corner  stone '  of  the  first  hospital  to  be 
opened  for  American  troops  in  England. 

The  work  of  converting  the  manor  house  of  Mossley  Hill 
was  characterized  by  a  celerity  quite  in  keeping  with  that 
which  had  marked  its  acquisition.  Although  British  labor 
was  practically  at  a  premium  and  building  materials  ob- 
tainable only  by  the  most  diligent  search,  the  efforts  of  the 
Red  Cross  and  Major  U.  J.  Wile,  of  the  American  Army, 
detailed  as  medical  inspector,  resulted  in  the  opening  of  the 
hospital  for  its  first  patients  on  January  8,  1918  —  within 
six  weeks  after  work  was  begun  ! 

In   that    incredibly    short   time   the   house    had   been 

if 

equipped  with  a  new  system  of  plumbing,  several  of  the 
twenty-eight  rooms  enlarged  or  subdivided  and  accommo- 
dations provided  for  forty  patients.  This  much  ac- 
complished to  meet  emergencies,  the  Red  Cross  at  once  be- 
gan the  construction  of  two  sixty-bed  isolation  wards  for 
contagious  cases.  And  both  of  these  wards  were  completed 
and  occupied  early  in  the  spring  of  1918. 

As  the  number  of  American  officers  and  men  arriving  at 
Liverpool  and  other  northern  British  ports  was  constantly 
increasing,  Brigadier  General  A.  E.  Bradley,  Chief  Sur- 
geon at  the  Headquarters  of  the  American  Expeditionary 


52  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

Forces  in  France,  recommended  at  the  beginning  of  Febru- 
ary, 1918,  that  Mossley  Hill  Hospital  be  enlarged  to  a 
capacity  of  500  beds,  with  such  auxiliary  buildings  as  a 
laboratory  and  a  steam  disinfecting  plant  and  quarters  for 
a  medical  staff  and  a  detail  of  enlisted  men. 

Undeterred  by  any  obstacles  which  might  arise  in  an 
already  stony  path,  the  Red  Cross  instantly  agreed  to  under- 
take the  work  and  requested  the  engineer  officer  to  draw  up 
the  necessary  plans.  The  result  of  this  was  noteworthy. 
In  the  construction  which  followed,  the  American  Red 
Cross  laid  down  the  pattern  afterward  adopted  for  all  hos- 
pitals for  the  American  Army  in  Great  Britain.  The  de- 
sign, in  brief,  was  for  wards  of  forty-foot  width,  permitting 
four  rows  of  cots  instead  of  two,  as  heretofore,  and  two 
main  walls  instead  of  four  and  all  under  one  pitch  of  roof. 

The  new  plans  provided  for  the  erection  of  six  one-story 
ward  buildings,  each  approximately  100  by  40  feet,  in  a 
large  paddock  belonging  to  the  estate.  And  building  opera- 
tions were  begun  upon  a  large  scale,  the  very  month  that 
the  recommendations  came  from  Army  Headquarters. 
Delays  in  construction  were  inevitable,  but  the  buildings 
rose  one  by  one  and  as  rapidly  as  each  was  completed  and 
equipped  it  was  delivered  to  the  Army  Medical  Corps  for 
the  reception  of  patients. 

When  the  Germans,  in  their  drive  for  Paris  in  June, 
1918,  penetrated  to  Chateau-Thierry  and  the  American 
troops  were  flung  against  them,  notably  in  Belleau  Wood, 
the  army  dispatched  a  hurried  request  to  the  Red  Cross 
that  it  set  up  at  once  a  tent  hospital  for  500  patients  in  a 
field  adjoining  the  Mossley  Hill  reservation. 

The  response  to  this  was  the  immediate  shipment  of  a 
sufficient  number  of  tents  and  paraphernalia  to  shelter  300, 
while  the  market  was  being  ransacked  for  the  remaining 
two  hundred.  But,  fortunately,  these  tents  never  had  to 
be  used  for  wounded  men.  They  did  serve,  however,  for 
storage  and  similar  purposes  until  October,  1918,  when 
they  were  brought  into  requisition  in  the  "  flu  "  epidemic, 


WHEN  THE  COMMISSION  WAS  BORN  53 

which  taxed  every  resource  of  both  the  army  and  the  Red 
Cross. 

So,  from  the  very  beginning,  Mossley  Hill  was  a  Red 
Cross  enterprise,  the  entire  expense  of  its  construction  and 
equipment  and  operation  being  borne  by  the  Red  Cross  up 
to  the  time  when,  as  a  500-bed  institution,  it  was  taken 
over  by  the  Medical  Corps  of  the  American  Army. 

With  the  arrival  of  American  troops  in  England,  in  num- 
bers far  in  excess  of  all  earlier  expectations,  a  rapid  in- 
crease of  Red  Cross  activities  was  now  assured.  But  for  a 
clear  knowledge  of  the  foundations  upon  which  they  were  to 
be  erected,  it  is  necessary  to  go  back,  even  beyond  the  Lon- 
don Chapter ;  in  fact,  to  the  days  which  antedated  the  entry 
of  America  in  the  Great  War. 

In  September,  1914,  which  was  only  a  few  weeks  after 
the  beginning  of  hostilities  in  Europe,  a  number  of  Ameri- 
can women  living  in  England,  a  majority  of  whom  had 
married  British  subjects,  organized  the  American  Women's 
War  Relief  Fund.  Its  object  was  the  care  of  wounded 
officers  and  men  of  the  British  Army,  and  its  maintenance 
was  derived  from  voluntary  contributions  of  money  and 
supplies  from  England  and  the  United  States.  Among 
the  American  women  associated  in  this  undertaking  were 
Lady  Paget,  Viscountess  Harcourt,  the  Duchess  of  Marl- 
borough,  Lady  Randolph  Churchill,  Mrs.  Walter  H.  Page, 
wife  of  the  then  American  Ambassador;  Mrs.  Whitelaw 
Reid,  Lady  Lowther,  Mrs.  John  Astor,  Lady  Henry,  Mrs. 
Walter  S.  M.  Burns,  Mrs.  Michael  Foster,  Mrs.  Irwin 
Laughlin,  wife  of  the  Counselor  of  the  American  Embassy, 
and  Mrs.  H.  B.  Chapin.  The  treasurer  of  the  organiza- 
tion was  Mr.  Walter  S.  M.  Burns. 

In  wholehearted  aid  of  this  undertaking,  Mr.  Paris 
Singer,  of  New  York,  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Fund 
his  thirty-acre  estate  "  Oldway,"  at  Paignton,  three  miles 
from  Torquay,  in  South  Devonshire.  This  estate,  in  the 
most  beautiful  part  of  the  "  English  Riviera/'  had  been 
selected  fifty  years  before  by  Isaac  M.  Singer,  the  inventor 


54  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

of  the  sewing-machine  shuttle,  as  the  site  for  his  English 
home.  Upon  it  had  been  built  a  great  residence,  "  Oldway 
House,"  designed  by  French  architects  in  the  style  of  the 
Louis  periods,  which  was  a  shining  landmark  on  the  coast. 

The  place  was  in  every  way  advantageous  for  a  hospital, 
especially  for  convalescents,  not  only  by  reason  of  the  com- 
fortable and  commodious  mansion,  which  contained,  ap- 
proximately, sixty  rooms,  but  because  extremes  of  heat  or 
cold  or  excessive  rainfall  are  unknown  at  Paignton. 

With  such  an  estate  at  its  disposal,  the  Fund  at  once  be- 
gan the  conversion  of  the  great  house  to  its  new  uses.  It 
established  two  hundred  and  fifty  beds,  converting  an  im- 
mense Louis  XVI  gilded  ballroom  into  a  ward,  and  pro- 
vided a  distinguished  staff  of  American  physicians  and 
surgeons  to  care  for  the  British  non-commissioned  officers 
and  privates,  in  whose  behalf  the  institution  had  been 
founded. 

"  Oldway  House  "  is  one  of  the  most  sumptuous  private 
residences  in  England,  with  a  grand  stairway  modeled 
after  that  of  the  Palace  of  Versailles,  and  dominated,  in  a 
panel  over  the  wide  landing,  by  David's  historic  painting, 
"  The  Coronation  of  the  Empress  Josephine,"  which  the 
artist  was  fourteen  years  in  completing.  This  prized 
canvas  was  hung  on  steel  cables  by  which  it  could  be 
lowered  into  a  protecting  tank  in  the  cellar  in  case  of  fire. 
At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  Mr.  Singer  had  it  removed  for 
safety  to  his  New  York  residence. 

Surrounded  by  the  regal  elaborateness  and  the  comforts 
which  "  Oldway  House ' '  and  its  vast  park  afforded,  it  is 
little  to  be  wondered  at  that  one  of  the  American  soldiers 
who  was  later  under  treatment  there  should  have  said  to  a 
fellow  patient: 

"  I've  just  written  the  folks  at  home  that  I'm  living  in  a 
place  that  would  make  Kiverside  Drive  look  like  a  row  of 
sheds  along  a  railroad  track." 

And,  by  way  of  adding  still  another  distinction  to  it,  the 
soldier  was  told  by  a  nurse  to  inform  his  people  in  the  next 


WHEN  THE  COMMISSION  WAS  BORN  55 

letter  home  that  "  Oldwav  House  ' '  was  the  first  American 

*/ 

hospital  in  England  to  receive  a  visit  from  the  Queen. 

The  success  which  marked  the  administration  of  "  Old- 
way  House/'  where  hundreds  of  the  British  soldiery  were 
brought  back  to  health  and  helpfulness,  led  the  Fund  to 
open  in  March,  1917,  a  forty-eight-bed  hospital  for  British 
officers  at  Nos.  98  and  99  Lancaster  Gate,  Hyde  Park, 
London.  This,  in  turn,  was  an  eminently  successful 
undertaking,  due,  in  the  main,  to  the  tireless  zeal  of  Vis- 
countess Harcourt,  who  devoted  herself  not  only  to  the  gen- 
eral conduct  of  the  hospital,  but  gave  daily  personal  super- 
vision of  the  work. 

About  a  month  after  Lancaster  Gate  Hospital  was  in- 
augurated, the  United  States  entered  the  Great  War  and, 
close  upon  the  heels  of  this,  came  the  founding  of  the  Lon- 
don Chapter  of  the  American  Red  Cross  on  May  24,  1917, 
with  a  distinguished  directorate.  Its  Honorary  President 
vqas  Mr.  Walter  H.  Page,  at  that  time  American  Am- 
bassador, with  Mrs.  Page  and  Mrs.  Robert  P.  Skinner,  wife 
of  the  American  Consul  General,  as  Honorary  Vice-Presi- 

t/ 

dents ;  Mrs.  Whitelaw  Reid,  as  Chairman ;  Mrs.  Irwin 
Laughlin,  Vice-Chairman ;  Boylston  A.  Beal,  Honorary 
Secretary;  Robert  Grant,  Jr.,  Honorary  Treasurer,  and  W. 
H.  Buckler,  Administrative  Director. 

Early  in  the  summer  of  1917,  several  detachments  of 
surgeons,  nurses  and  orderlies  -  -  about  2,000  in  all  and 
forming  six  hospital  units  -  -  arrived  in  England  from 
America  on  their  way  to  France,  to  care  for  the  British 
wounded.  These  units,  with  a  seventh  from  Harvard, 
which  had  preceded  them,  had  been  organized  by  the  Ameri- 
can National  Red  Cross  and  turned  over  to  the  Surgeon 
General's  office  of  the  United  States  Army.  They  were 
sent  in  response  to  the  request  made  by  the  Balfour  Mission 
when  it  visited  the  United  States  in  May,  1917,  that  imme- 
diate medical  aid  be  furnished  to  the  British  Army,  as  it 
was  then  losing  several  thousand  doctors,  nurses  and  allied 
personnel  every  month. 


56  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

So  enthusiastically  prompt  were  the  American  units  in 
answering  this  call  that  the  one  from  Cleveland  —  the 
Lakeside  Unit  of  Dr.  George  W.  Crile,  and  the  first  to  fol- 
low the  Harvard  organization  —  sailed  from  New  York 
three  days  after  receiving  its  first  notice  to  start  for  the 
front.  The  next  unit  was  that  of  the  Peter  Bent  Brigham 
Hospital,  of  Boston,  headed  by  Dr.  Gushing,  and  swiftly 
thereafter  came  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital  Unit,  of  Phila- 
delphia, and  the  others  from  Chicago,  St.  Louis  and  New 
York. 

Owing  to  the  extreme  haste  in  which  these  pioneer  con- 
tingents were  dispatched,  many  of  the  nurses  arrived  in 
England  without  adequate  equipment  against  the  rigors  of 
winter  back  of  the  lines.  So  the  London  Chapter  of  the 
Red  Cross  undertook,  as  its  first  work  of  magnitude,  the 
provision  of  warm  outer  and  underclothing,  sleeping  bags, 
rubber  coats,  oil  stoves,  gloves,  etc.,  for  those  who  stood  in 
need  of  such  things.  Mrs.  Whitelaw  Reid,  much  inter- 
ested in  this  work,  contributed  heavily  to  the  purchase  of 
these  outfits,  making  her  donations,  however,  entirely 
through  the  Red  Cross. 

Two  results,  quite  aside  from  the  important  one  of  pre- 
serving the  health  of  the  workers,  came  of  this  initial  enter- 
prise. One  was  the  receipt  of  authorization  from  Red 
Cross  Headquarters  at  Washington  for  the  purchase  of 
whatever  supplies  were  required  for  the  American  nurses 
already  in  service  in  France.  The  other  was  the  proper 
equipment,  subsequently,  of  all  the  nurse  units  before  their 
departure  from  the  States  for  the  big  hospitals  in  Europe. 

In  direct  relation  to  this  activity  was  the  establishment 
in  June,  1917,  of  the  American  Nurses7  Club  (London  is 
emphatically  a  city  of  clubs)  at  No.  42  Grosvenor  Place,  in 
the  very  heart  of  the  metropolis,  under  the  chairmanship  of 
Viscountess  Harcourt,  to  provide  accommodation  and 
diversion  for  nurses  on  leave  from,  or  on  their  way  to,  duty 
in  French  and  British  hospitals. 

Such  was  its  deserved  popularity  that  before  very  long 


WHEN  THE  COMMISSION  WAS  BORN  57 

the  Chapter  had  to  furnish  an  annex  to  it.  This  was  made 
possible  through  the  generosity  of  the  Countess  of  Granard, 
who  gave  an  entire  floor  of  her  home,  Forbes  House  in 
Halkin  Street,  for  the  purpose.  And  when,  in  time,  even 
these  two  places  afforded  insufficient  quarters  in  which  to 
house  the  visitors,  Mrs.  Cavendish  Bentinck  contributed 
an  extensive  suite  of  rooms  in  her  home,  No.  4  Richmond 
Terrace.  Nor,  indeed,  was  this  the  end  of  it.  Later  still, 
it  became  necessary  to  lease  another  building,  No.  45 
Grosvenor  Place,  to  provide  shelter  for  the  nurses  during 
their  short  but  well-earned  holidays  in  London. 

The  club  was  patronized  by  hundreds  during  its  long  and 
growing  existence  and  many  of  the  nurses  were  frank  in 
avowing  that  "  they  didn't  know  what  they'd  have  done  had 
it  not  been  for  the  club  and  the  chance  for  real  rest  that  it 
gave  them."  When  the  superintendent  was  asked  what  the 
nurses  most  appreciated  in  the  club,  her  answer  came  with- 
out an  instant's  hesitation : 

"  Hot  baths  and  breakfast  in  bed !  ' 

From  this  time  onward  the  work  of  the  London  Chapter 
grew  apace.  One  valuable  activity  came  ready-made,  as  it 
were,  into  its  hands.  This  was  the  American  Receiving 
and  Distributing  Service.  Begun  as  a  branch  of  the  Bel- 
gravia  Workrooms,  a  British  organization  supplying  surgi- 
cal dressings  and  appliances,  bandages  and  clothing  to 
British  hospitals  in  France  and  England,  it  had  grown, 
through  the  interest  it  aroused  in  ximerica  and  among 
Americans  in  Great  Britain,  into  a  quite  individual  enter- 
prise. Upon  America's  declaration  of  war  it  established 
itself  as  a  separate  undertaking  in  behalf  of  the  American 
forces,  with  headquarters  at  No.  1G  Grosvenor  Crescent,  a 
house  lent  for  the  purpose.  At  this  time  the  energies  of 
the  Service  were  mainly  directed  toward  distributing  equip- 
ment and  supplies  to  the  hospitals  at  Paignton  and  Lan- 
caster Gate,  to  the  seven  base  hospital  units  which  the 
American  Government  had  sent  to  France,  and  among  cer- 


58  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

tain  British  hospitals  in  accordance  with  such  requests  as 
were  periodically  received  from  the  British  Director-Gen- 
eral of  Voluntary  Organizations  —  known  as  "  the 
D.G.V.O.,"  since  almost  everything  connected  with  this 
war  was,  in  conversation,  however  polite,  reduced  to  its 
initials  for  either  brevity  or  euphony. 

In  June,  1917,  the  Service,  under  the  able  direction  of 
Mrs.  Henry  B.  Chapin,  was  taken  over  by  the  London 
Chapter  of  the  Red  Cross  and,  shortly  afterward,  removed 
to  permanent  quarters  in  a  spacious  building  at  No.  15 
George  Street,  the  use  of  which  had  been  gratuitously 
proffered  by  Sir  Charles  Allom. 

The  big  house,  overlooking  famous  Hanover  Square,  was 
one  of  those  dignified,  early  Victorian  residences  of  which 
London  possesses  countless  rows.  It  had,  for  neighbor  over 
the  way,  the  historic  church  of  St.  George's,  where  Theodore 
Roosevelt  was  married. 

When  the  Service  occupied  the  building  it  had  just 
ceased  to  be  the  principal  show  place  of  a  great  firm  of 
London  decorators  and  much  of  its  furnishings  was  stock- 
in-trade.  The  chairman's  office,  with  its  walls  of  faded 
crimson  brocatelle,  its  florid  gilt  mirrors,  its  marble  con- 
soles and  elaborately  carved  furniture,  might  have  found 
its  replica  in  the  Quirinal.  It  was  a  charming  setting  for 
the  women  of  the  Service  and  yet,  no  sooner  had  they  be- 
come attached  to  their  surroundings  than  these  began  to 
disappear  before  their  very  eyes.  The  decorators  were 
selling  and  removing  their  cherished  wares.  The  wide, 
comfortable  chairs,  the  couches  and  the  inlaid  tables  were 
spirited  away  one  by  one.  Other  pieces  of  furniture  had  to 
be  sought  in  adjoining  apartments  until  the  rooms  became, 
first,  a  hodge-podge  of  periods  and  then  mere  offices,  with 
angular  roll-top  desks  and  hard,  four-square  chairs. 

There  was  one  room  in  the  house  which  permitted  the 
visitor  to  visualize  in  a  limited  space  the  widespread  work 
of  the  Service.  It  was  a  large  square  room,  its  walls  lined 


WHEN  THE  COMMISSION  WAS  BORN  59 

to  the  high  ceiling  with  shelves  filled  with  surgical  requi- 
sites and,  around  its  four  sides,  deep  bins  which  were 
being  constantly  emptied  and  replenished  with  supplies 
coming  from  America  for  distribution  in  England  and 
France.  Great  cases  of  these  came  sliding  down  a  steep 
chute  from  the  street  level,  while,  from  the  floor  above, 
smaller  packages  and  bundles  came  down  a  smaller  chute. 
In  the  room  was  a  silent,  busy  corps  of  workers  clad  in 
clean,  rustling  blue  and  white  uniforms,  their  heads  bound 
with  the  becoming  white  wimple  with  the  Red  Cross  on 
the  front  fold. 

They  bent  over  their  tables,  unpacking,  sorting,  repack- 
ing the  things  they  were  handling,  the  bandages,  gauze,  op- 
erating jackets,  hospital  garments,  surgical  appliances  and 
supplies  of  all  kinds,  seeming  to  bring  the  battle  front  and 
this  room  in  London  very  close  together.  The  visitor  could 
sense  the  urgent  need  for  these  things  in  the  field  stations 
and  hospitals  in  distant  France,  as  well  as  in  close-at-hand 
England. 

Work  was  so  systematized  in  the  George  Street  establish- 
ment that  an  order  for  a  given  article  in  any  amount  could 
be,  in  most  instances,  filled  immediately  without  necessitat- 
ing the  task  of  unpacking  the  original  bales  or  packages. 
The  contents  of  cases  and  bales  were  always  indicated  there- 
on so  that  one  of  the  chief  details  of  filling  an  order  was  the 
employment  of  a  van  to  take  the  goods  to  a  railway  freight 
station. 

Material  for  the  Service  came  from  a  very  large  number 
of  organizations  and  private  benefactors.  However,  a 
majority  of  the  consignments  from  America  were  sent 
through  such  institutions  as  the  National  Surgical  Dress- 
ings Committee  in  New  York,  the  New  England  Surgical 
Dressings  Committee,  the  Philadelphia  Emergency  Aid 
Committee,  the  Red  Cross  Supply  Service  of  Boston,  the 
War  Relief  Association  of  Virginia  and  other  enterprises 
included  in  the  British- American  War  Relief  group. 


60  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

Many  organizations  in  Allied  countries  also  contributed,  for 
nowhere  was  the  Entente  more  closely  related  than  in  the 
Red  Cross,  Queen  Mary's  Needlework  having  furnished 
3,600  packets  of  bandages  as  one  offering. 

Only  one  day  before  the  Tuscania  disaster,  a  donation  of 
TOO  wool  jerseys  was  received  at  George  Street.  At  the 
call  for  relief  for  the  survivors  of  the  troopship,  the  jerseys 
were  dispatched  to  them  immediately,  the  packages  not  even 
having  been  opened.  Mention  of  the  Tuscania  recalls  the 
receipt  one  day  by  the  Service  of  a  case  of  black  Llama  wool 
socks.  A  note  accompanying  the  shipment  explained  that 
the  case  had  been  washed  ashore  from  the  Tuscania  and 
picked  up  by  a  fisherman  on  Islay,  who  forwarded  the  socks 
with  his  respects  and  good  wishes.  Among  a  long  list  of 
interesting  donations  to  the  Service  was  a  consignment  of 
350  cases  of  groceries  sent  by  "  The  English  Servants  of 
Philadelphia'1  and  purchased  with  the  proceeds  of  a  ball.. 
An  anonymous  individual  in  the  Middle  West  sent  the 
Service  100  cases  of  chewing  gum. 

The  patriotic  support  the  Service  received  and  the  effec- 
tiveness of  its  management  enabled  it  to  distribute  more 
than  3,800,000  separate  articles  to  various  hospitals,  camps 
and  individuals.  And  at  no  time  in  its  existence  did  the 
American  Receiving  and  Distributing  Service  forfeit  its 
valued  individuality.  When  it  came,  as  it  eventually  did, 
under  the  Red  Cross  Commission  for  Great  Britain,  it 
merely  inserted  "  Red  Cross  "  after  the  word  "  American  ? 
in  its  title  and  widened  its  field  to  cover  an  increasing 
activity  of  helpfulness. 

The  Service  was  obviously  intended  to  answer  emergency 
calls,  such,  for  example,  as  one  made  on  a  Saturday  after- 
noon for  50,000  surgical  dressings  for  France.  This  order 
was  filled  from  its  admirably  stocked  shelves  and  shipped 
off,  compactly  boxed,  on  the  following  Monday  morning! 

But  this  was  by  no  means  an  unusual  demand  at  a  time 
when  hostilities  were  at  their  reddest.  The  Service  re- 
ceived many  such  "  hurry  calls,"  some  by  written  order, 


WHEN  THE  COMMISSION  WAS  BORN  61 

some  by  telephone  and  some  by  word  of  mouth,  and  often 
the  workers  were  at  their  toil  long  after  hours  in  order  to 
dispatch  the  needed  supplies  arid,  at  the  same  time,  main- 
tain the  watchword  of  the  Service,  that  it  never  failed. 

However,  it  was  a  young  British  officer  who  tested  the 
resources  of  the  Service,  and  he  did  it  all  unwittingly.  Go- 
ing along  George  Street,  he  saw  a  Ked  Cross  flag  flying  be- 
side the  Stars  and  Stripes  over  the  entrance  to  No.  15. 
He  made  for  the  place  as  fast  as  he  could  and  went  in, 
asking  the  first  person  he  met  if  some  one  would  not  be  so 
kind  as  to  tie  up  his  leg ! 

While  this  was  no  part  of  the  work  of  the  establishment, 
which,  clearly,  he  had  mistaken  for  a  Red  Cross  hospital,  it 
happened  that  there  were  two  U.  S.  Army  nurses  assisting 
in  one  of  the  workrooms.  They  took  the  officer  in  hand, 
obtained  antiseptics  and  bandages  from  the  storerooms  and 
skillfully  dressed  the  injury.  And  the  unexpected  patient 
never  was  permitted  to  learn  that  he  had  not  walked  into  a 
Red  Cross  hospital. 

He  apologized  for  giving  so  much  bother,  explaining 
that  he  had  received  a  bayonet  thrust  the  night  before  in  an 
attack  and  that  he  had  decided  not  to  report  the  wound  to 
his  own  surgeons  at  the  front  for  fear  they  would  cancel 
his  few  days'  leave  which  had  begun  that  morning. 

"  Better  to  bring  the  old  thing  over  here  and  ask  you  to 
tie  it  up,  what  ?  "  he  asked,  and  then,  as  he  cast  a  humorous 
eye  at  the  disorderly  strips  of  bandage  the  nurses  had  re- 
moved, "  I  didn't  seem  to  get  the  hang  of  those  beastly 
things,  did  I  ?  But  I  got  to  Blighty,  so  cheery-o !  And 
thanks  so  much." 

Toward  the  end  of  June,  1917,  the  capabilities  of  the 
London  Chapter  were  greatly  augmented  by  acceptance 
of  the  offer  of  Mrs.  William  Salomon,  of  New  York,  of  her 
London  home,  St.  Katharine's  Lodge,  with  its  four  acres  of 
grounds  in  Regent's  Park,  for  use  as  a  hospital.  The 
history  of  this  edifice  is  closely  linked  with  that  of  the  last 
of  the  Brunswick  sovereigns.  King  George  IV  se- 


62  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

questered  the  park  land  and  therein  built  the  lodge,  a 
large  rambling,  two-story  structure  of  beautiful  archi- 
tectural proportion  and  design. 

Mrs.  Salomon  agreed  to  equip  and  maintain  it,  stipulat- 
ing only  that  the  Chapter  provide  and  pay  a  staff  of 
surgeons  and  nurses  and  assistants  and  that  it  be  conducted 
for  the  orthopedic  cases  of  British  officers  until  such  time 
as  it  should  be  needed  for  American  officers.  For  disci- 
plinary and  administrative  purposes,  no  less  than  best  to 
comply  with  Mrs.  Salomon's  wishes,  it  was  decided  to  make 
St.  Katharine's  an  official  auxiliary  of  the  British  Mili- 
tary Orthopedic  Hospital  at  Shepherd's  Bush,  one  of 
England's  greatest  orthopedic  centers.  And  in  the 
management  of  its  new  venture,  the  London  Chapter  co- 
operated with  the  British  War  Office  and  the  British  Red 
Cross.  Thirty  beds  were  installed  as  quickly  as  possible 
and  the  first  patients  were  received  on  August  1,  1917,  Mr. 
Page,  the  American  Ambassador,  formally  opening  the 
hospital. 

There  is  little  doubt  that  the  situation  of  St.  Kath- 
arine's Lodge  had  much  to  do  with  its  record  of  success. 
It  was  surrounded  by  such  spacious  lawns  and  gardens 
that,  close  as  it  was  to  the  teeming  streets  of  the  British 
capital,  it  lay  in  a  quiet  as  profound  as  that  of  the  Surrey 
countryside.  Birds  sang  in  the  woods  and  squirrels,  tame 
as  kittens,  played  about  the  house,  even  scampering  into 
the  wards  in  search  of  dainties  from  the  patients'  trays. 

Orthopedically,  St.  Katharine's  made  a  name  for  it- 
self, such  was  the  skill  of  its  surgeons. 

After  the  first  American  Red  Cross  drive  in  the  summer 
of  1917,  the  American  Women's  War  Relief  Fund  suffered 
a  marked  diminution  in  contributions  from  the  United 
States.  Thereupon  it  applied  to  the  London  Chapter  with 
a  request  that  the  latter  should  take  over  the  two  hospitals, 
Paignton  and  Lancaster  Gate,  the  moneys  of  the  Fund 
still  remaining  and  also  its  incurred  obligations.  This  the 
Chapter  consented  to  do,  with  the  proviso  that  the  hospitals 


WHEN  THE  COMMISSION  WAS  BORN  63 

should  be  used  for  Americans  when  such  necessity  arose. 
As  the  officials  of  the  Fund  were  in  hearty  accord  with  this, 
as  was  Mr.  Singer,  in  so  far  as  his  property  was  concerned, 
the  Chapter  assumed  the  work  on  January  1,  1918,  the 
original  committee  of  the  Fund  remaining,  by  request, 
to  manage  the  affairs  of  the  hospitals  as  before. 

Early  in  the  existence  of  the  London  Chapter,  indeed, 
one  of  its  first  acts  was  the  creation,  in  May,  1917,  of 
a  Care  Committee,  whose  members  would  visit  camps 
and  hospitals  and  do  all  that  lay  within  their  power  to 
"  mother  "  the  Americans  who  had  adventured  so  far  from 
home  to  go  to  war.  What  this  work  entailed  can  be  real- 
ized when  it  is  known  that  more  than  one  million  Ameri- 
cans passed  through  Great  Britain  on  their  way  to  the 
battle-fronts  of  France  and  that  a  majority  of  these  came, 
at  one  time  or  another,  under  the  benevolent  eye  of  some 
member  of  this  committee. 

"  It  is  just  a  bit  difficult  for  me  to  realize,"  said  Mrs. 
E.  P.  Skinner,  the  chairman  of  this  extensive  activity, 
"  that  the  Care  Committee,  whose  original  personnel 
numbered  fourteen  and  whose  first  real  labors  were  limited 
to  visiting  180  Americans  serving  in  the  Canadian  forces 
about  two  years  ago  '  -  she  was  speaking  at  the  close  of 
the  year  1918  — "  should  have  become  the  large  "Red  Cross 

•/ 

organization  of  today  with  its  six  hundred  visiting  com- 
mittee members  in  all  parts  of  the  United  Kingdom. 

"  Although  we  began  on  a  very  small  scale,  we  were 
immediately  recognized  by  the  British  War  Office  as  the 
official  American  visiting  organization.  This  gave  us  the 
greatest  aid  in  our  helpful  task  as  our  work  was  done  at 
that  time  in  British  camps  and  hospitals. 

"  After  our  work  among  the  Canadian  contingents  had 
been  in  regular  progress  for  some  time  and  given  us  the  ex- 
perience we  needed  for  the  task,  our  own  army  began  to  ar- 
rive on  its  way  to  the  continent  and  we  established  twenty 
branch  organizations  throughout  Great  Britain.  Our  first 
actual  contact  with  the  soldiers  of  the  American  Armv  was 


64  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

at  Chisledon,  where  we  found  about  150  men  lacking  in 
both,  clothing  and  funds.  The  British  commanding 
officer  applied  to  us  for  assistance  and  we  at  once  distrib- 
uted the  necessary  relief.  Later,  thousands  of  our  own 
men,  brigaded  with  English  or  French  troops,  came  back 
to  England  wounded.  We  visited  every  one  of  these,  saw 
to  it  that  they  had  comforts  in  the  hospitals  and  recupera- 
tion centers  —  things  the  hospitals  could  not  be  expected  to 
provide  —  and  were,  I  hope,  of  the  most  cheering  aid  to 
them. 

"  Whenever  an  American  soldier,  sick  or  wounded, 
whether  belonging  to  the  American  Army  or  to  the  British 
or  Canadian  forces,  arrived  in  any  hospital  or  camp,  the 
Care  Committee  was  immediately  notified  and  a  visitor 
sent  to  see  him  and  find  out  what  he  most  needed.  At  the 
time  the  Committee's  work  was  at  the  maximum  of  its  ef- 
fectiveness, we  were  visiting  more  than  5,000  soldiers 
monthly." 

As  American  forces  came  into  the  war  more  numerously, 
the  work  of  the  Committee  increased  in  volume  and  variety. 
It  not  only  visited  the  men  but  furnished  to  the  Home 
Communication  Service  detailed  reports  of  all  cases,  these 
being  forwarded  to  headquarters  at  Washington.  There 
is  probably  nothing  which  so  appeals  to  the  American 
soldier  on  a  foreign  shore  as  a  chance  to  talk  to  an  Ameri- 
can woman.  Whatever  he  has  of  shyness  then  drops  away 
from  him  like  an  uncomfortable  garment  and  he  responds 
to  efforts  to  cheer  him  as  he  would  respond  to  no  one  else. 
Hie  has  under  such  circumstances,  also,  a  far  keener  ap- 
preciation of  whatever  the  visitor  has  brought  to  him, 
whether  it  be  fruit,  candy,  soap,  writing  paper,  woolen 
articles  or  what  not.  He  takes,  too,  what  courage  is  re- 
quired to  ask  for  the  things  he  really  wants. 

This  was  what  the  visitors  always  did  their  utmost  to 
learn,  and  it  resulted  in  the  granting  of  not  a  few  singular 
requests.  In  one  week  a  member  of  the  Committee  was 
asked  by  the  men  she  visited  to  provide  a  pair  of  orthopedic 


WHEN  THE  COMMISSION  WAS  BORN  65 

boots,  a  copy  of  "  Vanity  Fair/'  a  Jewish  prayer  book  and 
a  lemon  pie ! 

When  one  of  the  visitors  was  asked  what  her  duties  were, 
she  replied :  "  Well,  I  darn  the  men's  socks,  write  their 
letters  home  —  -  love  letters,  too,  sometimes,  when  a  hand 
is  missing  -  -  do  such  shopping  as  they  wish,  read  to  them 
and  very  often  just  sit  and  listen  while  they  talk.  It  isn't 
hard,  it's  a  great  happiness  save  when  you  feel,  from  the 
first,  that  the  boy  to  whom  you  are  striving  with  all  your 
might  to  bring  the  sunshine  is  going  to  close  his  eyes  on 
it  all  in  just  a  little  while,  and  that  you'll  come  back  one 
day  to  find  another  boy  in  his  cot.  And  then  you'll  begin 
all  over  again,  just  as  if  the  poor,  thin,  gone  boy  hadn't  left 
a  weight  on  your  heart. 

"  Oh,  but  lots  of  them  get  well  and  strong  and  go  away, 
too,  but  so  differently,  and  then  you  say  to  yourself  that  per- 
haps you  helped  him  to  get  back  into  the  sunny  world  — 
and  that's  vour  reward,  that  and  the  smile  and  the  firm 

•> 

hand-clasp  when  you  look  into  his  eyes  for  perhaps  the  last 
time.  Isn't  it  silly  that  I've  fallen  in  love  with  at  least 
half  a  dozen  of  these  boys  in  the  last  month?  And  I've 
written  that  to  the  mother  of  every  one  of  them !  ' 

V 

As  hospital  visitors  to  American  soldiers  in  England,  the 
palm  belongs  unquestionably  to  Colonel  and  Mrs.  Albert  W. 
Swalm,  he  the  American  Consul  at  Southampton,  a  Civil 
War  veteran  and  a  native  of  Iowa.  Both  were  members  of 
the  Care  Committee  and  began  work  long  before  America 
entered  the  war,  when  the  only  Americans  they  could  find 
for  their  ministrations  were  in  British  or  Canadian  uni- 
forms. 

From  1914  until  the  last  American  soldier  had  left  Eng- 
land, their  hospital  visits  reached  a  total  close  upon  twenty- 
six  thousand!  During  1918  alone  their  visits  numbered 
more  than  twenty-four  thousand !  They  distributed  com- 
forts of  all  kinds  in  nineteen  camps  and  hospitals  and  were 
tireless  in  devotion  to  the  men,  undeterred  even  when  seri- 
ous epidemics  were  sweeping  through  the  camps. 


66  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

~Not  contented  alone  with  visiting  the  wounded,  the  Com- 
mittee inspected  thirty-nine  aviation  camps  in  England  and 
provided  emergency  hospitals  and  complete  supplies  for 
thirty-one.  And  as  a  valuable  aid  to  the  task  of  the  visi- 
tors, the  Chapter  established  a  Library  Department  in 
rooms  in  Pall  Mall  placed  at  its  disposal  by  Mr.  John 
Wanamaker.  By  this  means  it  was  possible  to  provide  sick 
or  wounded  Americans  with  about  10,000  books,  10,000 
American  magazines  and  10,000  American  newspapers. 

It  was  upon  these  foundation  stones,  set  so  firmly  by  the 
American  Women's  War  Relief  Fund  and  the  London 
Chapter,  that  the  American  Red  Cross  Commission  for 
Great  Britain  reared  the  structure  which  was  to  grow  to 
such  magnitude  and  prove  of  so  great  help  in  the  many 
correlated  tasks  of  a  gigantic  war. 

The  expansion  of  its  labors  was  achieved  with  all  the 
haste  that  judgment,  foresight,  and  expediency  made 
possible.  In  good  season,  for  obvious  reasons  of  admin- 
istration and  effectiveness  of  effort  -  -  not  in  any  way  by 
usurpation  —  the  Commission  took  over  the  various  activi- 
ties of  its  two  forerunners,  at  the  same  time  retaining  their 
personnel  and  encouraging  all  their  traditions  of  service. 

To  be  exact,  it  was  not  so  much  a  "  taking  over  "  as  an 
assumption  by  the  Commission  of  financial  responsibility 
for  these  already  successful  organizations  and  supervision 
of  their  extension  to  meet  utterly  unanticipated  demands. 
Above  all,  it  centralized  management  and  permitted  con- 
solidation of  branches  of  endeavor  which  the  Commission 
had  already  established.  By  January  1,  1918,  the  last  of 
the  activities  of  the  two  bodies  had  been  transferred  and 
thereafter  the  entire  American  service  was  conducted  in 
the  name  of  the  American  Red  Cross  Commission  for  Great 
Britain. 

As  a  preface  to  the  narration  of  certain  graphic  incidents 
in  the  work  of  the  Commission,  it  seems  best,  just  at  this 
point,  to  cast  a  glance  ahead,  to  visualize  its  wide  hospital 


WHEN  THE  COMMISSION  WAS  BORN  67 

field,  for  instance.  In  its  work  in  Great  Britain  the  Red 
Cross  became  actively  connected  with  twenty-three  hospitals 
of  what  may  be  called  principal  importance.  Thirteen  of 
these  were  hospitals  of  its  own,  four  were  army  base  hos- 
pitals, two  were  army  camp  hospitals  and  three  were  naval 
base  hospitals.  In  addition  there  were  a  number  of  small 
Red  Cross  camp  hospitals  or  infirmaries,  usually  of  the  tent 
or  hutment  type,  in  nearly  fifty  of  the  minor  American 
camps  throughout  Great  Britain.  These,  as  a  rule,  had  a 
capacity  of  six  to  twelve  beds  and  were  under  the  direction 
of  the  local  officers  of  the  Army  Medical  Corps.  Also, 
many  American  soldiers  were  treated  in  British  hospitals, 
the  list  of  institutions  engaged  in  this  service  including 
more  than  200  British  Army  and  British  Red  Cross 
hospitals. 

All  of  the  American  hospitals  were  directly  in  charge 
of  army  or  navy  medical  authorities,  the  assistance  of  the 
Red  Cross  being  called  for  in  cases  where  the  supply  de- 
partments of  either  of  these  services  found  themselves  un- 
able, for  any  of  a  variety  of  reasons,  to  meet  the  require- 
ments of  an  occasion  or  in  time  of  pudden  emergency. 
The  function  of  the  Red  Cross,  so  far  as  hospitals  were  con- 
cerned, became,  therefore,  largely  that  of  a  supply  and 
equipment  organization,  and  this  function  was  exercised 
through  its  personnel  acting  in  conjunction  with  and  under 
the  direction  of  the  army  and  navy  medical  officers. 

The  general  plan  of  hospital  construction  adopted  by  the 
army  in  the  early  summer  of  1918  provided  for  a  total  of 
about  25,000  beds  before  the  end  of  the  following  winter. 
Of  this  number,  ten  American  Red  Cross  hospitals  for  sol- 
diers (excluding  the  two  naval  hospitals  and  a  nurses'  con- 
valescent home)  would  have  furnished  about  5,500  beds, 
that  is,  if  the  plans  had  not  been  terminated  by  the  Armis- 
tice. This  total  would  have  been  distributed  generally  as 
follows : 

A.  R.  C.  Military  Hospital  at  Mossley  Hill  ...      600 
A.  R.  C.  Military  Hospital  at  Paignton   1,000 


68  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

Base  Hospital  at  Sarisbury  Court  3,000 

Carnp  Hospital  at  Romsey 240 

Six  small  special  hospitals 660 

Total    5,500 

At  the  time  of  the  signing  of  the  Armistice  the  total  num- 
ber of  beds  actually  available  in  Great  Britain  was  about 
9,770,  of  which  about  2,700  were  in  the  ten  American  Red 
Cross  hospitals. 

The  largest  number  of  Americans  cared  for  at  any  one 
time  in  American  hospitals  in  Great  Britain  was  9,310  on 
November  12,  1918.  The  number  of  Americans  cared  for 
in  British  hospitals  varied  greatly,  but  on  October  30,  1918, 
there  were  5,584  under  treatment  for  wounds  or  illness  in 
these  institutions. 

As  late  as  the  end  of  September,  the  supply  of  hospital 
beds  in  Great  Britain  generally  exceeded  the  demand,  but 
during  the  months  of  October  and  November  this  was  far 
from  true,  owing  mainly  to  the  influenza  epidemic  which 
flamed  through  the  entire  world,  and  large  numbers  of 
"  flu  "  cases  had  to  be  sent  to  British  hospitals  from  camps 
and  incoming  American  transports.  At  other  times  a  cer- 
tain number  of  cases  continuously  found  their  way  to 
British  institutions,  not  owing  to  lack  of  American  beds, 
but  to  the  fact  that  as  American  troops  were  brigaded  with 
the  British  at  the  front,  it  was  sometimes  impossible  to  sort 
them  out  in  transporting  them  back  to  England.  Also,  in 
cases  of  illness  originating  in  the  smaller  American  camps 
in  England,  it  was  frequently  advisable  to  place  these  in 
convenient  British  hospitals  rather  than  subject  them  to 
long  journeys  to  American  institutions. 

During  the  year  1918  the  total  number  of  Americans 
treated  in  British  hospitals  was  12,628,  these  being  dis- 
tributed, as  has  been  said,  in  more  than  200  of  them.  The 
care  of  these  men  naturally  offered  to  the  Red  Cross  a 
variety  of  problems,  not  only  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
Hospital  Department,  but  also  from  that  of  the  Supply  De- 


WHEN  THE  COMMISSION  WAS  BORN  69 

partment  and  that  of  Home  Communication  as  well  as 
other  branches  of  work.  However,  almost  without  excep- 
tion these  scattered  Americans  were  found,  visited,  their 
needs  supplied  and  news  of  their  condition  sent  to  their 
people  at  home. 

The  descent  of  the  influenza  marked  a  separate  epoch  in 
the  hospital  problem  in  Great  Britain.  More  than  half  the 
deaths  among  the  American  forces  in  the  Kingdom  were 
directly  due  to  this  disease.  It  was  in  September  that  the 
scourge  of  "  flu '  manifested  itself,  reaching  its  most 
alarming  state  within  about  three  weeks  and  then  decreas- 
ing in  intensity  through  a  troubled  period  of  three  long 
months.  In  September  there  were  2,330  American  cases. 
The  total  number  of  such  patients  from  the  week  ending 
September  9  to  that  ending  December  30  was  7,512,  of 
which  5,158  were  treated  in  American  hospitals  and  2,344 
in  British  institutions.  During  the  same  period  the  num- 
ber of  deaths  from  pneumonia  was  1,717,  of  which  1,404 
occurred  in  four  weeks. 

The  total  number  of  American  soldiers  who  were  patients 
in  hospitals  in  Great  Britain  during  1918  was  47,862. 
One-eighth  of  this  number  were  treated  in  purely  Red  Cross 
hospitals,  two-eighths,  or  one-quarter,  in  British  hospitals 
and  the  remaining  five-eighths  in  hospitals  under  direct 
control  of  the  American  Army's  medical  authorities.  The 
latter  figures,  however,  include  patients  in  the  Sarisbury 
Court  base  hospital  and  in  the  camp  hospital  at  Romsey, 
both  of  which  were  built  and  equipped  throughout  by  the 
Red  Cross. 

In  considering  the  figures  relative  to  patients  received  in 
individual  hospitals,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  some  of 
these  hospitals  had  been  in  operation  only  a  short  time  dur- 
ing the  year  while  others,  open  for  a  long  period,  had  only 
reached  a  large  capacity  during  the  last  few  months  of  the 
year.  The  figures  for  the  Red  Cross  hospitals  were : 

Mossley  Hill  3,531 

Paignton      1,952 


70  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

Lingfield  283 

Romsey     1,870 

Sarisbury    Court    1,263 

The  U.  S.  Army  Base  Hospitals  had  the  following  totals : 

Tottenham   3,827 

Portsmouth      3,660 

Dartf ord  4,273 

Hursley    Park    3,761 

and  the  camp  hospitals : 

Winchester      5,403 

Southampton       1,510 

Liverpool      3,866 

October,  with  its  visitation  of  the  influenza,  yielded  the 
high  record  of  the  year,  as  in  that  month  there  were  12,806 
Americans  admitted  to  hospital,  with  a  decrease  to  7,401  in 
November.  With  the  evacuation  of  American  troops  from 
England  after  the  signing  of  the  Armistice  there  were,  in 
December,  only  1,455  in  hospital. 

About  one-quarter  of  the  cases  in  Great  Britain  were  of 
wounded  or  injured  men,  6,219  of  these  coming  from 
France  and  5,009  from  various  parts  of  Britain,  a  total  of 
11,228.  The  cases  of  illness  from  France  totaled  7,206, 
those  from  England  15,017  and  from  the  arriving  trans- 
ports 7,147,  a  total  of  29,370. 

In  the  hospitals,  the  work  of  the  Eed  Cross  and  the  Army 
Medical  Corps  was  so  closely  connected  that  it  would  not  be 
either  possible  or  desirable  to  separate  them  for  purposes  of 
comparison.  In  the  Eed  Cross  hospitals  the  Army  Medical 
manned  them  and  they  were,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  an 
integral  part  of  the  army  machine.  In  the  army  hospitals, 
the  Red  Cross  provided  a  vast  amount  of  equipment  of 
varied  character  and  was  always  on  hand  to  help  in  time  of 
need  or  trouble.  Splints  and  splint  material  of  all  kinds 
were  supplied  by  the  Eed  Cross  through  arrangement  with 


WHEN  THE  COMMISSION  WAS  BORN  71 

the  "  Surgical  Requisitions  Association,"  of  London,  for 
the  manufacture  of  these  appliances. 

To  the  American  soldier  and  sailor  the  Red  Cross  was  a 
"  Fairy  Godmother,"  providing  him  with  everything  he 
needed  and  as  there  were  more  than  a  million  of  these 
Americans  in  Britain  or  passing  through  on  the  way  to 
France,  it  will  be  understood  that  an  almost  incalculable 
number  of  things  was  distributed.  In  one  month  the  Red 
Cross  purchased  for  the  American  forces  in  Great  Britain 
30,000  sweaters,  50,000  pairs  of  socks,  30,000  tooth 
brushes,  300,000  boxes  of  matches,  32,000  pounds  of  soap, 
800  baseball  outfits,  500  harmonicas,  144,000  packages  of 
chewing  gum  and  5,000,000  cigarettes.  In  order  to  handle 
its  great  stock  of  supplies,  the  Red  Cross  had  nine  ware- 
houses or  depots  in  England,  six  in  Ireland,  two  in 
Scotland  and  one  in  Wales.  The  largest  of  these  ware- 
houses, the  one  in  London,  had  50,000  square  feet  of  floor 
space  and  not  an  inch  unoccupied.  Its  Receiving  and  Dis- 
tributing Service  and  its  workrooms,  where  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  bandages  and  dressings  were  made,  helped 
magnificently  to  make  the  superb  record  of  the  American 
Red  Cross  in  Great  Britain. 

That  the  American  Army  appreciated  its  aid  was  well 
attested  in  an  address  delivered  by  Major  General  John 
Biddle,  Commanding  the  American  Forces  in  Great 
Britain,  to  give  him  his  full  title,  at  the  annual  meeting  of 
the  London  Chapter  in  October,  1918,  in  which  he  said: 

"  I  really  do  not  know  what  the  American  Army  would 
have  done  in  England  without  the  R,ed  Cross.  Everywhere 
the  Red  Cross  is  giving  the  best  that  can  be  given  or  asked 
for. 

"  Our  men  are  being  cared  for  as  well  as  they  can  be,  and 
are  being  helped  by  the  Red  Cross  in  every  way,  both  large 
and  small.  The  hospitals  in  London  and  at  Paignton  and 
at  Sarisbury  and  Mossley  Hill  are  some  of  the  largest  of  its 
gifts. 

"  The  Red  Cross  has  given  us  the  material  for  a  large 


72  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

hospital  at  Romsey  and  has  started  a  very  big  hospital  near 
Southampton.  At  all  our  camps  throughout  the  British 
Isles  it  has  given  us  many  things  which  we  either  could 
not  get  from  the  Government  or  could  not  get  without  much 
delay.  This  work  has  been  done  so  well  that  nowadays 
every  one  applies  first  to  the  Red  Cross  whenever  anything 
is  wanted  very  particularly  or  very  quickly. 

"  In  one  camp  which  I  visited  the  other  day,  I  found  that 
the  Red  Cross  had  furnished  a  fine  club.  In  another  I 
found  at  the  end  of  our  hospital  wards  an  attractive  little 
room  fitted  out  with  comfortable  chairs,  writing  desks,  and 
reading  tables  —  and  again  it  was  the  Red  Cross. 

"  It  seems  to  me  that  every  time  I  leave  London  to  go 
anywhere  I  see  something  new  that  the  Red  Cross  has  been 
doing. 

"  In  the  Otranto  disaster,  the  first  thing  we  did  was  to 
go  to  the  Red  Cross  for  materials  and  supplies  of  various 
kinds,  and  when  we  sent  a  boat  to  look  after  the  survivors 
on  the  bleak  Island  of  Islay,  many  provisions  for  the  ex- 
pedition came  from  the  R,ed  Cross. 

"  When  we  sent  a  large  number  of  men  to  northern 
Russia,  a  short  time  ago,  the  Red  Cross  sent  I  don't  know 
how  many  hundred  tons  of  supplies. 

"  We  in  the  army  all  feel  a  gratitude  to  the  Red  Cross 
which  it  is  hard  for  me  to  express  in  words.  Without  the 
Red  Cross  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  have  given 
camps  the  comforts  and  conveniences  and  happiness  which 
they  have  received  in  England.  You  have  our  hearty 
thanks  for  all  you  have  done  and  are  doing  and  intend  to 
continue  to  do  so  long  as  the  American  soldier  is  in 
England." 

The  navy  also  well  knew  the  service  the  Red  Cross 
rendered  to  its  men,  and  in  token  of  that  understanding, 
here  is  what  Admiral  Sims,  Commander  of  the  American 
Naval  Forces  in  British  waters  said  when  he,  in  turn,  ad- 
dressed the  London  Chapter  that  day : 

"  I  have  often  heard  people  say,  i  Why  is  it  necessary 


WHEN  THE  COMMISSION  WAS  BORN  73 

to  care  for  sick  and  wounded  soldiers  and  sailors  through 
an  organization  like  the  Red  Cross  ?  Why  doesn't  the  Gov- 
ernment take  charge  of  it  ? ' 

"  The  fact  of  the  matter  is  that  the  Government  is  not 
capable  of  doing  it  the  way  the  Red  Cross  does. 

"  All  Government  activity,  particularly  this  work,  is 
governed  by  rules  and  regulations  and  an  auditor.  All 
these  rules  and  regulations  are  made  with  a  view  to  what 
is  likely  to  happen,  but  all  needs  cannot  be  foreseen. 
When  an  emergency  turns  up,  we  sometimes  have  not  the 
facilities,  sometimes  not  the  legal  authority  to  do  all  that 
we  ought  to  do. 

"  The  Red  Cross  man  is  like  a  combination  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  and  the  Cabinet  and  both  of  the 
Houses.  He  can  make  a  law  as  quickly  as  you  can  write  a 
check.  But  we  of  the  Government  service  cannot  do  it  at 
all. 

"  The  emblem  of  the  Red  Cross  is  two  small  pieces  of  red 
tape,  laid  neatly  across  each  other.  But,  so  far  as  I  know, 
this  is  the  only  bit  of  tape  they've  got.  They  can  do  things 
unhampered  by  rules  and  regulations. 

"  When  our  men  are  sick  or  wounded  we  need  quick  ac- 
tion unhampered  and  free.  Disasters  like  the  Otranto 
show  how  valuable  is  its  work  —  all  that  has  been  taken 
care  of  by  the  Red  Cross. 

"  Some  months  ago  the  Red  Cross  came  to  me  and  asked 
if  they  could  establish  emergency  depots  on  the  north  coast 
of  Ireland  with  a  view  to  the  possibility  of  some  such  dis- 
aster as  this.  The  Government  could  not  do  it  and  it 
seemed  pretty  evident  that  it  ought  to  be  done.  I  told  them 
to  go  ahead  and  these  depots  were  of  the  greatest  value  in 
the  Otranto  disaster. 

'  The  Red  Cross  is  ever  present  to  help  in  time  of 
trouble.  All  our  people  in  America  are  doing  everything 
they  possibly  can  to  forward  its  work.  We  have  had  many 
crosses  to  bear  during  this  war,  but  the  Red  Cross  has  been 
the  finest  and  best  of  them." 


CHAPTEE  IV 

THE   WORD    THAT    CAME    IN    MARCH 

IT  is  not  possible  adequately  to  convey  the  breadth  and 
character    of    American    Bed    Cross    work    in    Great 
Britain  without  explaining  in  brief  the  part  which  the 
British  Isles  played  in  the  constantly  expanding  scheme  of 
American  military  and  naval  operations. 

Great  Britain,  so  far  as  the  American  Army  was  con- 
cerned, was  not  a  battle  area.  But  it  was  a  great  supply 
center  and  became  also  a  gigantic  "  way-station  "  for  troops 
en  route  to  France.  Early  in  the  war  thousands  of  Amer- 
ican air-men  and  mechanics  had  come  to  England  and  been 
dispersed  to  three  score  or  more  training  camps  in  different 
parts  of  the  islands,  construction  units  had  been  stationed  at 
several  other  points  and  a  tank  schooling  station  established 
in  the  south.  But  the  original  plan  of  the  American  Gov- 
ernment, it  was  understood,  did  not  contemplate  the  trans- 
portation of  an  army  through  Great  Britain ;  instead,  it  was 
to  be  landed  directly  in  France.  It  was  the  submarine 
peril  and  the  congestion  of  ports  in  France  that  made  a 
change  in  plan  imperative.  And  before  very  long,  the  first 
of  the  million  men  who  eventually  passed  through  Britain 
began  to  arrive. 

Soon,  indeed,  great  convoys  of  them  were  landed  week 
after  week.  They  had  to  be  carried  across  England  as 
railroad  transport  permitted  and  also  be  cared  for  during 
the  unavoidable  delays. 

Owing  to  the  shifting  nature  of  the  submarine  menace  in 
British  waters,  the  troopships  varied  their  landing  places 
and  frequently  it  was  not  known  until  the  last  minute 
whether  a  convoy  would  put  in  at  Plymouth,  London,  Liver- 
pool, Glasgow  or  some  lesser  port. 

74 


THE  WORD  THAT  CAME  IN  MARCH      75 

For  effectiveness  under  these  conditions,  an  almost  in- 
fallible transport  organization  was  required,  one  capable  of 
dealing  with  a  sudden  influx  of  thousands  of  men  at  any  one 
of  half  a  dozen  points  on  the  coast.  Also,  rest  camps  in 
which  these  men  might  be  housed  for  perhaps  four  or  five 
days  before  they  resumed  the  journey  toward  the  battle 
zones,  had  to  be  created  and  equipped  with  facilities  for 
whole  brigades. 

Troops  newly  arrived  from  America,  quite  naturally  pic- 
tured to  themselves  in  England  the  comfortable  quarters 
and  pleasant  surroundings  of  the  home  cantonments  from 
which  they  had  been  so  recently  mobilized.  But  at  the 
outset  they  not  infrequently  discovered  their  "  barracks ' 
to  mean  tents  and  they  themselves  to  be  face  to  face  with 
discomforts,  if  not  real  hardships,  in  the  matter  of  unaccus- 
tomed food,  clothing  and  climate.  Upon  many  of  the 
men  the  change  in  climate  reacted  seriously.  The  cold, 
penetrating  dampness  of  England  rendered  them  easily 
susceptible  to  sickness  and  they  felt  the  need  of  heavy 
underwear,  of  heat-giving  food,  and  of  warm  living 
quarters.  Of  course,  as  time  went  on,  there  was  a  steady 
improvement  in  all  of  these,  but,  to  the  last,  there  remained 
many  things  to  which  the  men  had  to  adapt  themselves 
however  short  their  sojourn  in  England.  In  the  case  of  the 
training  camps,  many  of  them  in  out-of-the-way  places  all 
over  the  Kingdom  and  some  with  a  personnel  of  not  more 
than  200,  the  haste  of  their  establishment  precluded  com- 
forts and  conveniences  which  a  longer  preparation  would 
have  assured. 

For  the  American  Navy.  Great  Britain  was  the  center 

•/  7 

of  operations.  The  headquarters  fur  all  activities  in 
European  waters  were  in  a  group  of  buildings  adjoining  the 
chief  administration  offices  of  the  American  Red  Cross 
Commission  in  Grosvenor  Gardens.  All  around  the  coast 
of  Britain  were  naval  centers  of  activity  of  one  kind  or  an- 
other. There  was  the  Grand  Fleet  base  at  Scapa  Flow  in 
the  Orkneys,  off  the  northern  tip  of  Scotland ;  there  were 


76  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

destroyer  bases  at  Queenstown  and  Berehaven  (one  also  at 
distant  Gibraltar)  ;  mine-laying  stations  on  the  east  coast, 
a  battle  cruiser  port  at  Inverness,  a  coal  base  at  Ca-rdiff,  a 
scout  cruiser  station  at  Plymouth  and  submarine  bases  on 
the  west  coast,  with  naval  aviation  stations  scattered 
throughout  the  Isles.  And  even  this  list  does  not  enum- 
erate them  all. 

Thus  it  came  about  that  in  a  country  remote  from  the 
actual  theater  of  war,  the  American  Red  Cross  found  a 
great  work  to  be  done  for  the  American  Army  and  Navy,  one 
which  required  a  large  and  active  organization  constantly 
adaptable  both  to  rapidly  shifting  demands  and  to  frequent 
emergencies  in  widely  separated  regions  of  the  Kingdom, 
because  there  was  no  American  military  or  naval  station  in 
all  Great  Britain  to  which  the  Red  Cross  was  not  called  to 
minister  at  some  time  in  some  way.  Its  service  to  many 
was  maintained  throughout  their  existence. 

For  the  watchword  of  this  work,  of  the  entire  effort  of 
the  Red  Cross  in  Great  Britain,  was  "  SERVICE."  And 
the  organization  carried  its  activities  into  every  field,  into 
every  place  where  there  was  service  to  be  performed  for 
the  men  of  the  American  Army  and  Navy.  Whatever  the 
need,  the  hour,  or  the  distance,  nothing  dismayed  or  de- 
terred it.  And  more  than  one  man  to  whom  it  ministered 
was  frankly  amazed  to  discover  how  far  from  home  hia 
own  people  had  come  and  with  what  resources  just  to  help 
him. 

Primarily,  the  service  was  for  the  sick  and  wounded  of 
the  military  and  naval  forces  and  this  effort  was  two-fold 
in  direction :  toward  hospitalization  and  toward  the  care  of 
men  in  hospital,  including  not  only  those  in  the  larger  in- 
stitutions, but  the  ones  ill  of  minor  complaints  in  the 
smaller  American  camp  hospitals  or,  for  one  reason  or  an- 
other, patients  in  remote  British  hospitals. 

Thus  the  work  of  the  Commission  for  Great  Britain  was 
by  no  means  confined  to  American  hospitals.  Before  the 
American  wounded  were  brought  from  the  Western  Front 


THE  WORD  THAT  CAME  IN  MARCH      77 

to  England  for  treatment,  many  officers  and  men  of  the  Ex- 
peditionary Force,  on  duty  along  the  lines  of  communica- 
tion in  England  or  at  American  rest  camps  or,  again,  sta- 
tioned at  Royal  Flying  Corps  posts  throughout  the  country, 
had,  of  necessity,  been  sent  to  the  nearest  British  Army  or 
British  Red  Cross  hospitals  for  such  medical  care  as  they 
required.  Also,  during  the  influenza  epidemic  of  the 
autumn  of  1918,  thousands  of  Americans  were  received  in 
these  two  hundred  or  more  institutions,  the  number  reach- 
ing a  maximum  of  5,584  at  the  end  of  October.  In  fact, 
during  the  entire  year,  the  total  of  American  patients  so 
cared  for  was  in  excess  of  12,500. 

At  every  one  of  these  places,  no  less  than  at  its  own  hos- 
pitals and  those  of  the  United  States  Army,  the  Ajnerican 
Red  Cross  maintained  its  service,  visiting  the  sick,  provid- 
ing for  them  in  accordance  with  their  regimen  or  their 
needs  and  communicating  in  such  way  as  they  desired  with 
their  families  or  friends.  Many  of  the  smaller  British 
hospitals,  which,  from  time  to  time,  admitted  American 
patients,  applied  to  the  Red  Cross  for  assistance,  and  this 
was  never  once  withheld.  Sometimes  the  aid  thus  given 
consisted  of  equipment  which  had  not  been  possible  of  pro- 
vision from  the  institution's  slender  funds.  Also,  large 
quantities  of  surgical  dressings  and  hospital  garments, 
made  by  Red  Cross  Chapters  in  the  United  States,  were 
furnished.  In  certain  instances  contributions  of  money 
were  made  toward  the  maintenance  of  hospitals. 

The  secondary  duty  of  the  Red  Cross  was  to  the  Ameri- 
can soldiers  on  the  lines  of  communication  —  all  England 
was  essentially  a  part  of  those  lines  -—  and  to  the  sailors  of 
the  navy,  wherever  orders  or  the  vicissitudes  of  war  might 
take  them. 

At  the  opening  of  the  year  1918  the  only  hospital  beds 
available  for  the  use  of  American  soldiers  were  in  two  or 
three  American  Red  Cross  hospitals  which  were  then  being 
conducted  for  British  troops.  The  great  Army  from  the 
States,  which  was  eventually  to  come  to  England,  pause  for 


78  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

breath  and  transport  facilities,  and  then  go  hastening  across 
to  the  Continent,  was  just  beginning  to  arrive.  In  this 
newly  created  order  of  things,  the  Medical  Corps  of  the 
Army  and  the  Red  Cross,  as  a  supplemental  organization, 
promptly  joined  in  the  endeavor  to  provide  proper  accom- 
modation for  the  inevitable  percentage  of  hospital  cases. 

Early  in  the  year  it  had  not  been  thought  that  there 
would  be  need  for  hospitalization  in  England  beyond  that 
of  establishing  a  sufficient  number  of  beds  to  care  for  the 
sick  among  a  comparatively  small  American  force  stationed 
there  and  for  the  steadily  increasing  numbers  of  troops  in 
transit  to  France.  As  there  was  always  the  possibility  of 
an  epidemic  of  some  kind  among  men  crowded  in  troop- 
ships, and  also  an  expectation  of  numerous  cases  of  pneu- 
monia during  the  first  cold  of  autumn,  these  contingencies 
were  well  weighed  in  the  Army  Medical-Red  Cross  councils, 
but  practically  no  plans  for  a  greater  extension  of  this  pro- 
gram were  either  contemplated  or  thought  necessary.  It 
was  generally  understood  that  American  troops  in  France 
were  to  be  stationed  somewhere  along  the  extreme  right 
wing  of  the  battle  line  and  that,  for  the  care  of  the  wounded, 
extensive  hospital  accommodations  would  be  provided  in  the 
south  of  France  itself. 

But  in  the  latter  part  of  March  the  ominous  German 
offensive  brought  about  many  sudden  changes,  many  seri- 
ous problems,  created  a  stupendous  task.  Swiftly  came 
the  decision  to  brigade  American  troops  with  the  British, 
to  bring  Ajnerican  sick  and  wounded  from  the  front  to 
England.  These  last  must  be  cared  for  to  the  fullest  ex- 
tent of  modern  medical  and  hospital  practice,  with  no 
neglect  of  those  already  under  treatment.  The  obligation 
laid  upon  the  American  Red  Cross  was  no  less  weighty  than 
that  which  the  Army  Medical  Corps  must  bear.  Now  was 
the  time  for  the  making  of  Red  Cross  history ! 

Mossley  Hill  Hospital  had  already  been  provided  by  the 
Red  Cross,  work  on  it  having  commenced  in  the  late 
autumn  of  1917,  as  soon,  in  fact,  as  it  was  learned  that 


THE  WORD  THAT  CAME  IN  MARCH      79 

large  bodies  of  American  troops  were  to  be  convoyed  to 
Great  Britain.  The  construction  of  six  additional  one- 
story  buildings,  with  an  aggregate  of  340  beds,  had  brought 
its  total  capacity  to  500  patients.  This  establishment 
was,  from  the  outset,  a  Red  Cross  enterprise. 

The  example  which  had  been  set  by  Mrs.  Salomon  in 
offering  her  London  residence,  St.  Katharine's  Lodge,  as  a 
hospital,  was  followed  early  in  January,  1918,  by  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Chester  Beatty,  he  an  American  mining  engineer,  who 
had  witnessed  the  success  of  the  institution  in  Regent's 
Park.  They  offered  for  similar  use  their  London  home, 
Baroda  House,  which  stood  in  a  quiet  street  off  Kensington 
Gardens,  that  Kingdom  of  Children,  the  playground  of  im- 
mortal "  Peter  Pan."  The  house  had  a  distinction  aside 
from  that  of  overlooking  "  The  Big  Penny,"  "  The  Round 
Pond  "  and  "  The  Paths  That  Made  Themselves."  Like 
St.  Katharine's  Lodge,  it  had  a  royal  founder,  an  Indian 
prince,  the  Gaekwar  of  Baroda,  and  its  interior  bore  many 
traces  of  his  oriental  taste  in  decoration,  but  it  had  been 
extensively  rearranged  and  equipped  in  accordance  with 
modern  occidental  ideas. 

If  the  Red  Cross  had  been  permitted  a  choice  of  any  of 
London's  houses  for  a  hospital,  it  could  not  have  found  one 
better  suited  to  such  employment.  It  had  gardens  with 
shaded  walks  and  wide  lawns  and  its  lofty  rooms  with 
sunny  windows  made  ideal  wards.  In  releasing  their 
house  to  the  Commission,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Beatty  volunteered 
to  equip  it  and  contribute  the  funds  for  its  maintenance,  the 
Red  Cross  providing  doctors,  nurses,  orderlies,  and  all 
necessary  hospital  supplies.  Welcoming  this  arrangement, 
the  Commission  installed  forty  beds  and  opened  the  wards 
for  patients  on  March  20,  1918,  the  first  cases  received  be- 
ing those  of  British  officers. 

Baroda  House  Hospital  was  originally  intended  for  the 
care  of  convalescents,  but  it  was  soon  required  for  surgical 
and  medical  cases  exclusively.  Both  British  and  American 
officers  were  treated  during  the  early  part  of  the  year,  the 


80  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

understanding  being  that,  for  the  time,  about  one-third  of 
the  beds  should  be  set  aside  for  American  Army  patients, 
the  entire  institution  to  be  available  for  their  use  when  such 
need  should  arise.  As  it  never  did  arise,  and  as  the  Red 
Cross  expressed  a  wish  to  close  the  place  on  February  1, 
1919,  the  Eoyal  Army  Medical  Corps  at  once  took  it  over 
for  the  British  Government,  thus  relieving  the  Red  Cross 
of  further  management  or  control. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  at  the  time  of  the  ominous 
events  at  the  front  in  March,  1918,  which  demanded  a  com- 
plete change  in  already  matured  plans,  the  American  Red 
Cross  had  five  available  hospitals,  each  then  occupied  in  car- 
ing for  a  considerable  number  of  patients.  These  five,  in 
the  order  of  their  establishment,  were :  "  Oldway,"  or,  as  it 
was  more  familiarly  known,  Paignton ;  Lancaster  Gate,  St. 
Katharine's  Lodge,  Mossley  Hill  and  Baroda  House. 

The  army,  in  the  emergency  it  faced  -  -  the  expected  ar- 
rival of  large  convoys  of  wounded  before  it  could  prepare 
•adequately  for  their  reception  —  turned  immediately  to  the 
British  authorities,  explained  its  inability  to  build  great 
hospitals  in  so  short  a  time  and  asked  for  the  use  of  what- 
ever already  established  English  institutions  might  be 
spared.  After  a  careful  survey  of  conditions,  the  British 
considerately  allotted  the  hospitals  at  Hursley  Park,  Ports- 
mouth, Dartford,  and  Tottenham.  Hitherto,  the  first  of 
these  had  served  as  a  military  hospital,  the  other  three  as 
insane  asylums  or  fever  hospitals  or  for  medical  work  not 
directly  connected  with  the  war. 

Having  these  institutions  at  its  disposal,  the  army  im- 
mediately sought  the  aid  of  the  Red  Cross  in  refitting  them 
for  their  new  purposes  and  in  providing  comforts  and 
similar  benefits  for  their  patients  while  it  went  on  with  the 
task  of  added  construction. 

Hursley  Park  Hospital,  five  miles  southwest  of  Win- 
chester, was,  before  American  occupation,  used  by  the 
British  in  connection  with  an  aviation  rest  camp  situated  on 


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THE  WORD  THAT  CAME  IN  MARCH      81 

the  neighboring  slopes.  As  it  was  comparatively  small,  the 
American  authorities  promptly  undertook  its  enlargement 
to  a  capacity  of  3,000  beds,  this  being  the  standard  size 
adopted  for  base  hospitals  in  England.  Such  a  program 
naturally  called  for  extensive  participation  by  the  Red 
Cross  which,  in  addition  to  repairing  and  renovating  it 
throughout,  supplied  a  complete  X-ray  installation,  op- 
erating room  equipment,  sterilizing  apparatus,  dental  serv- 
ice, a  medical  library,  ward  furniture,  and  quantities  of 
drugs  and  hospital  necessaries  generally.  It  also  equipped 
and  furnished  the  nurses'  and  officers'  quarters  and  fitted 
out  a  recreation  room  for  the  enlisted  personnel,  providing 
them  not  only  with  a  piano  but  with  complete  paraphernalia 
for  a  "  jazz  band." 

The  period  of  the  influenza  epidemic  of  1918  was  a  try- 
ing time  at  Hursley,  which  had  not  at  that  time  reached 
great  size,  and  it  was  necessary  to  improvise  a  number  of 
wards  from  the  old  barracks  on  the  hill  above  the  main  hos- 
pital. To  these  the  Red  Cross  supplied  thousands  of 
articles  of  equipment.  As  an  index  of  the  emergency:  on 
August  30th  there  were  only  225  patients  in  the  hospital, 
but  in  the  next  few  davs  the  number  rose  suddenlv  to  more 

t>  */ 

than  650,  many  of  these  being  serious  pneumonia  cases. 
In  November  the  number  of  patients  rose  again  to  nearly  a 
thousand,  including  a  large  convoy  of  "  gassed  "  men  from 
the  Western  Front. 

The  Red  Cross  dental  service  at  Hursley  was  much  ap- 
preciated. It  was  not  only  for  the  patients  in  the  base  hos- 
pitals, but  also  for  the  men  in  adjacent  American  camps, 
and  the  number  of  cases  treated  in  a  single  day  frequently 
reached  seventy-five. 

Entertainment  of  patients  was  a  feature  of  Red  Cross 
work  at  the  hospital.  There  were  numerous  band  concerts 
and  theatrical  performances  and  the  Red  Cross  supplied 
talking  machines  and  popular  records  to  every  ward,  to 
which  also  a  small  portable  moving  picture  machine,  the 


82  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

gift  of  the  Red  Cross,  was  carried  for  the  diversion  of  those 
too  ill  to  attend  the  entertainments  in  the  building  assigned 
for  the  purpose. 

Another  highly  successful  ministration  was  the  distribu- 
tion of  reading  matter  to  the  patients.  There  is  nothing 
which  the  American  appreciated  so  much  as  his  "  home 
newspaper,"  and  while  it  was  not  always  possible  for  the 
Red  Cross  to  furnish  each  man  with  a  paper  from  his  own 
town,  it  was  generally  arranged  to  give  him  one  from  some 
near-by  city,  containing  much  local  and  sectional  news  of  in- 
terest to  him.  American  magazines  and  novels  were  like- 
wise supplied  and  in  many  cases  special  books  were  pro- 
vided upon  request.  In  fact,  every  legitimate  need  of  the 
men  was  attended  to,  to  the  best  of  Red  Cross  ability. 
Checks  were  cashed,  missing  barrack  bags  traced  or  re- 
placed, watches  repaired,  shoes  mended  —  there  was  not  a 
wish  it  slighted.  Special  foods  for  convalescents,  includ- 
ing fresh  oysters,  a  great  luxury  in  England,  were  supplied 
and  the  medical  officers  declared  more  than  once  that  the  oys- 
ters "  marked  the  turning  point  in  the  patient's  appetite." 

In  one  day  at  Hursley  the  Red  Cross  dealt  with  seven 
hundred  separate  appeals  for  various  needed  articles. 
These  requests  came  not  only  from  the  base  hospital  but 
also  from  the  American  construction  company  stationed 
near  there  and  from  the  men  at  Standon,  a  quarantine  camp 
for  "  contacts,"  that  is,  men  who  had  been  exposed  to  com- 
municable disease.  The  usual  camp  service  work  was  ex- 
tended to  Standon  from  the  Hursley  offices  of  the  Red 
Cross,  recreation  rooms  being  provided  and  supplied  with 
musical  instruments,  newspapers  and  books.  An  officers' 
mess  and  camp  offices  were  fitted  up  and  bathing  arrange- 
ments made  for  the  officers.  Upon  two  occasions  the  Red 
Cross  authorized  the  construction  of  shower  baths  for  the 
enlisted  men,  but  after  the  work  had  been  begun  the  army 
authorities  thought  best  to  postpone  it  until  a  definite  de- 
cision had  been  reached  as  to  the  permanency  of  the  camp. 

The  work  at  Standon  consumed  many  Red  Cross  sup- 


THE  WORD  THAT  CAME  IN  MARCH 

plies,  for  large  numbers  of  the  men  there  were  "  casuals," 
arriving  under  emergency  conditions  and  with  a  great 
variety  of  needs  which  the  Red  Cross  was  well  equipped  to 
supply  on  the  spot.  During  the  five  months  of  this  camp's 
full  occupation,  more  than  35,000  men  passed  through  it  on 
their  way  to  France. 

The  institution  at  Portsmouth,  a  group  of  stone  and  brick 
asylum  buildings,  the  second  to  be  taken  over  by  the  army, 
was  opened  as  an  American  base  hospital  of  500  beds. 
The  provision  of  further  space  went  forward  rapidly  and 
—  to  look  ahead-—  had  reached  about  1,900  beds  just  be- 
fore the  Armistice.  In  all,  more  than  3,500  patients  were 
admitted  to  it. 

Here  the  Red  Cross  maintained  a  large  office  close  to  the 
hospital,  the  headquarters  building,  Stratford  Lodge  on  the 
Parade  overlooking  the  Sound,  including  reception,  writing 
and  recreation  rooms,  all  of  which  were  cheerfully  placed 
at  the  disposal  of  convalescents  and  as  cheerfully  used  by 
them  every  day.  The  work  of  the  Red  Cross  staff  was  not 
confined  strictly  to  the  base  hospital,  but  extended  to 
American  soldiers  in  neighboring  British  institutions,  not- 
ably the  Alexandria  Military  Hospital,  at  Cosham;  the 
Fifth  Southern  General  Hospital  and  the  Milton  infirmary. 
One  of  its  staff  was  assigned  exclusively  to  entertainment 
and  recreation  and,  by  him,  dances  and  theatrical  entertain- 
ments were  arranged.  Tennis  courts,  croquet  lawns  and 
baseball  diamonds  were  also  provided  and  the  equipment 
for  all  these  pastimes  purchased  by  the  Red  Cross. 

Portsmouth  Hlospital  had  the  finest  baseball  diamond  in 
all  Europe  and  the  soldier  patients  never  failed  to  boast  of 
it  to  visiting  teams  from  other  American  hospitals  when 
they  came  down  to  engage  the  crack  Portsmouth  team. 
When  games  of  this  kind  occurred,  the  Red  Cross  was  gen- 
erally called  upon  to  pay  the  traveling  expenses  of  the 
visiting  nine.  Incidentally,  the  uniforms  for  all  of  the 
baseball  players,  throughout  England,  were  made  in  the 
Red  Cross  workrooms  at  36  Grosvenor  Gardens  and  dec- 


84  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

orated  with   distinguishing  insignia.     The  teams  in  the 
"  Big  Leagues  ' '  were  not  better  equipped  ! 

On  four  evenings  a  week,  the  hig  concert  hall  of  the  hos- 
pital was  transformed  from  its  every-day  use  as  a  mess  room 
to  that  of  a  cinema  theater,  with  apparatus  and  films  fur- 
nished by  the  Red  Cross.  At  the  time  of  the  signing  of  the 
Armistice  —  to  look  ahead  again  —  a  "  Red  Cross  Hall ' 
to  seat  1,400  persons,  with  other  rooms  for  rest  and  recrea- 
tion, had  been  partly  constructed. 

Other  services  rendered  by  the  Red  Cross  at  Portsmouth 
were  the  provision  of  a  motor  stage  to  take  the  patients  for 
recuperative  excursions  over  the  countryside,  and  the  con- 
duct of  a  hospital  "  Exchange  "  where  men  could  purchase 
modest  "  luxuries '  and  exchange  their  English,  French, 
or  American  money  for  the  currency  they  needed. 

The  appreciation  which  such  Red  Cross  work  at  Ports- 
mouth won  from  the  men  and  from  their  relatives  at  home, 
is  indicated  by  a  letter  received  at  Stratford  Lodge  from  a 
woman  in  New  York  City  who  wrote  that  she  had  decided 
to  put  all  the  money  she  had,  aside  from  her  actual  home- 
running  expenses,  into  the  work  of  the  Red  Cross,  as  an 
expression  of  her  gratefulness  for  the  services  rendered  by 
its  Portsmouth  staff  to  her  young  brother,  who  was  for  a 
time  a  patient  in  the  hospital. 

Dartford  was  the  largest  of  the  American  Base  Hospitals 
in  England,  reaching  a  capacity  of  more  than  2,000  beds. 
It  was  about  fifteen  miles  out  of  London,  located  in  a  grove 
on  a  hilltop  in  the  midst  of  a  rolling  country,  and  had  been 
used  by  the  Metropolitan  Asylums  Board  for  the  treatment 
of  fever  convalescents.  In  addition  to  a  large  administra- 
tion building,  it  comprised  twenty  ward  structures,  each 
accommodating  100  patients;  homes  for  staff  and  nurses, 
laboratories,  warehouses,  and  allied  out-buildings  —  all  in 
all,  a  well  planned  institution.  In  the  valley  just  below 
was  a  large  overflow  hospital  which  the  British  retained  for 
the  care  of  wounded  German  prisoners  of  whom  there  were 
about  twelve  hundred. 


THE  WORD  THAT  CAME  IN  MARCH  85 

The  armv  medical  unit  stationed  at  Dartford  consisted 

»j 

of  about  fiftv  sunreons,  100  nurses  and  200  enlisted  men. 

*/  GJ 

Most  of  the  staff  came  from  King's  County  Hospital,  in 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  The  Red  Cross  was  called  in  as  soon  as 
the  army  took  over  the  place  and  established  its  representa- 
tives there,  including  an  officer  in  charge  of  activities  gen- 
erally, a  Home  Communication  officer,  two  women  canteen 
workers  and  a  score  of  Care  Committee  visitors. 

In  the  matter  of  equipment  and  supplies,  the  Red  Cross 
provided  furniture,  surgical  instruments,  operating-room 
fixtures,  laboratory  apparatus,  large  quantities  of  drugs  and 
dressings,  musical  instruments,  comforts  and  clothing  — 
everything  necessary  for  the  happiness  and  well-being  of 
the  patients.  Dartford  was  the  first  American  Base  Hos- 
pital to  be  visited  by  the  King  and  Queen  of  England,  and 
if  the  reader  will  turn  to  the  chapter  which  relates  that 
roval  visit,  he  will  learn  more  of  what  the  Red  Cross  did 

\) 

there  —  indeed,  he  will  have  the  pleasure  of  accompanying 
King  George  on  his  tour  of  inspection  of  Red  Cross  activi- 
ties at  the  hospital  and  of  meeting  some  of  the  men  who 
helped  to  break  the  Hindenburg  Line ! 

During  the  time  Dartford  was  open  (it  was  closed,  prac- 
tically, at  the  end  of  1918)  4,437  American  soldiers  passed 
through  it.  Among  them  were  forty  deaths,  chiefly  due  to 
pneumonia.  The  largest  single  convoy  of  patients  it  re- 
ceived consisted  of  202  men,  followed  immediately  by  the 
second  largest,  160  men.  The  latter  were  all  influenza 
cases  from  an  incoming  transport,  and  in  this  group  there 
were  twenty-five  deaths.  The  largest  outgoing  convoy  of 
discharged  patients  totaled  962  men,  who  sailed  on  the 
Saxonia  for  America  on  December  16,  and  were  met  and 
ministered  to  on  the  steamship  pier  by  the  Red  Cross. 

Tottenham,  which,  likewise,  was  made  into  a  base  hospi- 
tal, was  on  the  outskirts  of  London,  only  six  miles  from 
American  Red  Cross  Headquarters.  By  reason  of  this 
proximity  it  was  possible  to  keep  in  unusually  close  touch 
with  the  institution.  Although  its  needs  could  be  fulfilled 


86  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

by  the  headquarters  staff,  the  Red  Cross  had  an  officer  sta- 
tioned permanently  at  the  hospital,  with  such  assistance 
as  was  required  for  the  work  of  the  Home  Communication 
and  Canteen  Services.  The  women  visitors  of  the  Care 
Committee  assigned  there  were  of  great  help  in  the  distri- 
bution of  supplies. 

The  articles  given  away  by  the  Eed  Cross  at  Tottenham 
were  infinite  in  their  number  and  their  variety,  ranging 
from  things  of  personal  use  to  oranges,  from  chocolate  bars 
to  winter  underclothing.  Requests  which  came  from  the 
army  for  this  hospital  were  similar  to  those  made  in  behalf 
of  other  institutions,  all  of  which  were  met  with  the  usual 
dispatch. 

For  the  purposes  of  a  recreation  hut,  the  rector  of  the 
neighboring  parish  church  of  St.  Ann's  gave  to  the  Red 
Cross  the  use  of  the  Parish  Hall,  which  was  well  equipped 
for  such  service  when  it  came  into  Red  Cross  hands,  hav- 
ing a  large  chamber  for  entertainments,  a  library  and  writ- 
ing and  billiard  rooms.  At  the  time  of  the  signing  of  the 
Armistice  the  Red  Cross  had  drawn  up  plans  for  improve- 
ments and  additions  to  this  center  of  diversion  for  the  men. 

The  army  built  many  hut  wards  at  Tottenham  to  increase 
its  initial  capacity  of  500  beds  and  these  were  furnished  by 
the  Red  Cross  in  conformity  with  the  wishes  of  the  medi- 
cal authorities.  When  hostilities  ceased  there  were  1,500 
beds  at  Tottenham  Hospital. 

Such  is,  briefly,  the  account  of  what  the  Red  Cross  did 
to  help  the  army  in  one  of  its  hours  of  grave  emergency. 
And  throughout  it  all,  the  work  of  the  Red  Cross  and  that 
of  the  Army  Medical  Corps  was  most  cordially  correlated 
and  inter-dependent. 

One  matter  to  which  the  hospital  department  of  the  Com- 
mission early  turned  its  attention  was  the  provision  of  suit- 
able convalescent  hospitals  and  camps.  The  casual  camp 
of  the  army  at  Winchester  was  so  used  to  a  limited  extent, 
but  the  Red  Cross  was  requested  to  provide  something  in 


THE  WORD  THAT  CAME  IN  MARCH      87 

the  nature  of  a  convalescent  hospital  for  officers.  If  the 
war  had  gone  on  through  another  winter  there  would  have 
been  great  need  for  this  kind  of  institution,  because  Eng- 
land was  the  natural  place  to  which  to  send  men  recovering 
from  long  terms  in  hospital.  It  was  happily  out  of  range 
of  Germany's  guns,  if  not  her  bombing  planes,  and  hero  was 
a  country  of  proverbially,  historically  beautiful  regions,  a 
deep  inland  quiet  to  be  found  in  the  shortest  of  journeys,  a 
kindred  people  speaking  the  same  language  and  few  marks 
of  battle  such  as  scarred  northern  France.  It  was  an  ideal 
spot  for  recuperation. 

Straightway  the  Red  Cross  went  to  work  and  very  soon 
the  first  of  the  American  convalescent  hospitals  for  officers 
was  opened  at  Ling-field,  in  sunny  Surrey,  about  thirty-five 
miles  out  of  London  on  the  country  estate  of  Colonel  and 
Mrs.  H.  Spender  Clay.  The  house  furnished  room  for 
more  than  100  beds,  but  it  was  more  of  a  home  than  a  hos- 
pital, owing  to  the  presence  of  Mrs.  Spender  Clay,  who 
remained  as  "  hostess,"  taking  charge  of  all  the  household 
arrangements  and  assisting  the  medical  staff  in  countless 
ways.  Ati  the  time  the  Armistice  came  the  house  was 
nearly  filled  to  capacity,  and  for  some  while  afterward  it 
continued  to  receive  large  numbers  of  officers  who  were 
sent  there  for  a  few  days  of  rest  and  recuperation  before 
the  journey  to  America.  Not  long  after  the  Christmas 
holidays  the  hospital  was  closed. 

Nearer  to  London,  in  Wimbledon,  the  Red  Cross  estab- 
lished another  convalescent  hospital  for  officers,  but  this 
was  only  a  few  weeks  before  the  signing  of  the  Armistice. 
It  was  at  the  home  of  Mr.  Percy  Chubb,  of  New  York. 
His  residence,  known  as  "  Cannizaro,"  had  previously  been 
used  as  a  recuperation  place  for  British  officers  and  the  Red 
Cross  agreed  that  it  should  continue  to  receive  them  until 
it  be  needed  by  the  American  forces.  Occasional  Ameri- 
can officers  were  guests  there  but  it  was  mainly  used  by  the 
British  and  was  open  for  some  time  after  the  beginning  of 


88  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

1919.  It  was  within  half  an  hour  of  central  London  and 
was  probably  the  only  hospital  in  all  Europe  which  could 
boast  its  own  golf  course. 

For  American  naval  men  in  the  neighborhood  of  London 
the  Red  Cross  opened  a  hospital  at  Aldford  House  in  the 
capital's  fashionable  Park  Lane.  The  use  of  this  spacious 
mansion  was  given  for  the  purpose  by  the  Hon.  Mrs.  Fred- 
erick Guest.  It  occupied  an  entire  block  and  one  of  its  fea- 
tures, very  rare  in  a  London  house,  was  that  it  had  only 
two  stories,  so  none  of  the  wards  was  more  than  a  single 
flight  of  steps  from  the  ground  floor.  As  it  had  been  previ- 
ously used  and  partly  equipped  as  a  hospital  for  British 
patients,  only  a  portion  of  its  fittings  had  to  be  furnished 
by  the  Red  Cross  and  it  was,  therefore,  opened  a  very  short 
time  after  the  naval  authorities  made  their  request  for  such 
an  institution.  It  had  at  the  beginning  a  capacity  of  fifty 
beds  and  was  at  once  placed  under  command  of  a  navy 
surgeon  and  staff.  In  a  little  while  after  its  inception  the 
navy  took  it  over  and  had  it  still  in  operation  in  the  spring 
of  1919. 

With  so  great  a  corps  of  nurses,  numbering  tens  of 
thousands,  in  service  with  the  American  Army  in  France 
and  also  in  Great  Britain,  the  Red  Cross  provided  them 
with  a  cheerful  home  in  which  to  spend  their  convalescence 
from  illness  or  breakdown  and  for  this  purpose  leased 
Colebrook  Lodge,  the  residential  estate  of  Mr.  John  T. 
Ryan,  of  Detroit  and  Toronto.  It  was  on  West  Hill, 
Putney,  a  suburb  of  London.  The  house  was  a  roomy, 
three-story  structure  built  upon  the  300-year-old  founda- 
tions of  Putney  Manor  House.  There  were  three  acres  of 
lawns  and  gardens  and  close  at  hand  were  the  healthful 
downs  of  Putney  Heath  and  Wimbledon  Common.  In  the 
beginning  there  were  accommodations  for  about  thirty 
nurses  and  the  house  was  well  filled  from  the  date  of  its 
opening.  During  the  influenza  epidemic  it  was  crowded 
to  its  utmost  capacity.  Nurses  needing  special  hospital 


THE  WORD  THAT  CAME  IN  MARCH      80 

treatment  were  not  received  but  were  cared  for  in  special 
wards  of  the  army  base  hospital. 

In  the  early  summer  the  Red  Cross  nurses  were  well  or- 
ganized and  did  excellent  work,  first  at  Mossley  Hill,  Paign- 
ton,  and  at  Lancaster  Gate,  St.  Katharine's  Lodge  and 
Baroda  House  and  later  at  Aldford  House  and  the  Red 
Cross  naval  hospital  at  Cardiff.  Meanwhile  many  hospi- 
tals were  being  opened  in  Great  Britain  which  the  Red 
Cross  had  to  staff  temporarily,  that  is,  until  they  were  taken 
over  by  the  regular  army  personnel,  after  which  they  were 
generally  transferred  to  the  Army  Nurse  Corps  Reserve 
and  added  to  the  units  sent  by  the  War  Department  from 
the  United  States  to  the  new  hospitals. 

During  the  latter  half  of  the  year  the  Chief  Red  Cross 
Nurse  was  able  to  furnish  nurses  from  her  staff  to  meet 
several  emergencies,  as  when  troopships  arrived  with  a 
staggering  number  of  "  flu"  cases,  too  many  to  be  handled 
by  the  staffs  of  hospitals  near  the  ports.  Also  they  were 
provided  in  the  cases  of  soldiers  or  sailors  who  wrere  ill  at 
some  point  too  far  from  a  hospital  to  risk  moving  them. 

On  August  1,  1918,  there  were  on  duty  in  Great  Britain 
fifty-two  American  Red  Cross  nurses  (not  of  the  Army 
Nursing  Corps)  and  these  were  attached  to  six  hospitals. 
After  that  date  the  demand  for  Red  Cross  nurses  gradually 
decreased  until,  on  December  1,  there  were  only  thirteen 
on  duty  and  these  in  two  hospitals. 


CHAPTER  V 

ALONG    THE    L.    O.    O. 

IMPERATIVE  as  was  the  demand  for  hospital  accom- 
modation in  Great  Britain,  and  promptly  and  effi- 
ciently as  the  Red  Cross  provided  it  and  undertook  the 
welfare  of  the  sick  and  wounded  men  of  the  American 
forces,  its  service  on  the  "  Lines  of  Communication '  was 
too  important,  too  extensive  to  be  thought  of  as  quite  sec- 
ondary. In  one  sense  it  was  the  ranking  service,  for  it 
was  the  first  to  minister  to  the  American  soldier,  first  to 
give  him  tangible  evidence  that  the  American  Red  Cross 
was  there  in  Great  Britain,  just  as  it  was  at  home,  to  help 
him,  to  cheer  him  up,  to  take  care  of  him.  It  greeted 
him  upon  the  instant  of  his  arrival  at  a  British  port, 
wherever  that  port  might  be,  standing  on  the  threshold 
of  a  new  world  to  give  him  welcome.  He  saw  its  banner 
or  its  painted  symbol  long  before  his  transport  drew  into 
its  berth  and  he  knew  it  meant  something  he  had  never 
expected  to  find  in  that  distant  land :  "  his  own  kind  of 
people,"  friends  in  a  country  of  strangers  —  home.  Nor, 
from  that  moment,  did  he  ever  find  these  lacking.  No 
matter  where  he  went,  the  Red  Cross  had  gone  on  ahead,  to 
camp,  to  hospital,  to  the  troopship  which,  in  turn,  would 
take  him  to  France,  ready  always  to  serve  him  to  the  limit 
of  its  great  resources,  with  the  unlimited  energy  of  its 
workers.  Also  it  was  on  the  pier  to  meet  him  when  he  re- 
turned, sick  or  wounded,  from  the  front ;  it  sat  beside  his 
cot;  it  helped  him  idle  away  the  tedious  hours  of  his  con- 
valescence —  or  it  wrote  the  letter  which  would  tell  some 
one  in  far-off  America  why  he  was  never  coming  home 
again. 

As  it  was  first  to  meet  him,  so  it  was  last  to  speed  him 

90 


ALONG  THE  L.  0.  C.  91 

when  the  time  came  for  his  returning  and  he  sailed  away 
with  eager  eyes  set  toward  "  God's  own  country."  Even 
then  it  sent  a  man  on  the  transport  with  him  in  order 
that  its  attentions,  to  which  he  had  become  so  accustomed, 
might  be  maintained  to  the  end. 

"  Camp  Service  ?  was  the  broad,  official  term  employed 
to  designate  this  watchfulness  over  the  men  of  the  Ameri- 
can army  and  navy,  but  it  can  be  readily  seen  to  what 
ramifications  it  led,  particularly  as  it  included  canteen 
service,  which  was  dotted  about  Great  Britain  wherever  the 
troops  passed.  And  it  was  as  active  about  the  hospitals  as 
about  the  camps.  Perhaps  a  better  way  in  which  to  con- 
vey' the  intent  of  the  Red  Cross  in  thus  serving  the  men, 
is  to  say  that  it  strove  both  materially  and  spiritually  — 
the  spirit  of  a  smile  and  a  hand-clasp  and  a  happy  word  — 
to  make  up  to  them  the  home  things,  the  home  helpfulness 
and  interest  they  had  left  so  far  behind.  How  ably  the 
Red  Cross  succeeded  —  -  well,  ask  any  man  who  went 
across. 

As  canteen  service  was  the  first  manifestation  of  the 
Red  Cross  to  the  troops  arriving  in  Great  Britain,  figures 
—  usually  dull,  drab  things  in  any  narrative  —  -  will  per- 
haps most  usefully  serve  to  indicate  its  magnitude.  Can- 
teen activity  was  largely  centered  in  Liverpool,  London, 
Southampton,  and  Glasgow,  although  six  other  ports  were 
used  for  the  landing  of  troops  to  a  limited  extent  at  various 
times,  and  the  following  figures,  showing  the  number  of 
men  debarked  at  each  port  during  the  war,  will  tell  their 
own  story  of  the  Red  Cross  task,  for  every  one  of  these  men 
was  served,  many  of  them  several  times  over  during  their 
stay  in  Great  Britain : 

Liverpool      792,139 

London      84,147 

Southampton       41,763 

Glasgow    41,530 

Manchester       6,289 

Avonmouth      5,030 


92  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

Cardiff      2,089 

Swansea    1,694 

Newport    1,334 

Barry  Docks    1,331 


Total     977,346 

The  totals  by  months  prove  that  in  July  the  greatest 
number  was  brought  to  the  British  Isles,  with  August  and 
September  closely  second  in  America's  stupendous  mili- 
tary movement  which  amazed  the  world : 

Prior  to  January  1,  1918   86,765 

January    15,077 

February      5,070 

March 26,286 

April     27,364 

May       101,266 

June      122,825 

July  167,512 

August      154,192 

September    141,870 

October     94,536 

November     34,583 


Total     977,346 

For  the  purpose  of  most  effectively  serving  the  needs 
of  this  vast  inflow  of  troops,  not  only  at  the  debarkation 
points  but  also  later  in  the  rest  camps  and  smaller  training, 
aviation,  and  construction  posts,  the  American  Red  Cross 
divided  Great  Britian  into  eleven  districts,  in  each  of 
which  a  central  office  was  maintained  with  a  Red  Cross 
officer  in  charge  of  the  work  and  such  assistants  as  the 
needs  of  his  particular  neighborhood  required.  These 
districts  were: 

Group  I  Group  II  Group  III 

London  Cambridge  Plymouth 

Winchester  Oxford  Cardiff 

Liverpool  Lincoln  Scotland 

Southampton  Ireland 


ALONG  THE  L.  0.  C.  93 

The  area  comprised  in  Group  I  included  the  great  Amer- 
ican rest  camps,  the  principal  ports  of  debarkation  and 
embarkation,  the  base  section  headquarters  in  London, 
and  a  number  of  small  aviation,  tank,  and  construction 
camps.  Group  II  included  mainly  aviation  camp  areas. 
Group  III  took  in  regions  in  which  the  activities  of  the 
Ked  Cross  were  scattered  and  of  great  variety,  naval  as 
well  as  military. 

From  London  headquarters,  the  military  relief  work 
of  the  Red  Cross  included  service  to  American  troops  ar- 
riving in  oversea  transports  at  the  Royal  Albert  and  Til- 
bury Docks,  to  the  wounded  debarked  at  Dover,  to  returned 
prisoners  of  war  coming  in  by  way  of  Dover  or  Ripon,  and 
the  maintenance  of  canteens  in  London  for  the  staff  and 
other  personnel  of  army  headquarters  and  for  transient  or 
casual  troops  passing  through  the  capital  or  on  leave  there, 
to  the  number,  usually,  of  two  or  three  thousand. 

The  service  to  troops  in  hospitals  included,  in  the  London 
area,  the  large  base  hospitals  at  Tottenham  and  Dart- 
ford,  the  Red  Cross  hospitals  at  Lancaster  Gate,  Regent's 
Park,  Kensington  Palace  Gardens,  Park  Lane,  and  the  con- 
valescent hospitals  at  Lingfield  and  Wimbledon.  There 
were  also  a  large  number  of  British  hospitals  in  this  area 
which,  from  time  to  time,  accommodated  numbers  of 
American  soldiers.  Red  Cross  camp  infirmaries  were  es- 
tablished at  four  camps  in  the  London  district:  Ching- 
ford,  Eastbourne,  London  Colney,  and  New  Romney.  In 
the  small  American  aviation  camps  and  construction  posts 
the  work  of  the  Red  Cross  officers  was  very  similar  in  all 
the  various  areas  of  their  activities.  In  the  London  area 
there  were  at  various  times  from  fifteen  to  twenty  such 
camps,  the  Red  Cross  inspectors  visiting  them  all  and 
filling  their  needs  as  these  were  announced  by  their  com- 
manding officers.  These  supplies  included  alarm  clocks, 
bathtubs,  hair-clippers,  pictures,  griddles,  shoe-repair  out- 
fits, cough  lozenges,  cook  uniforms,  goggles,  washboards, 
pie  pans,  field-hospital  tents,  shoe  brushes,  flags,  portable 


94  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

huts,  brooms,  and  stoves,  in  addition  to  the  usual  provision 
of  sweaters,  socks,  helmets,  slippers,  shoes  and  toilet 
requisites.  In  several  instances  complete  field-hospitals 
were  provided  and  thoroughly  equipped. 

At  the  time  of  the  signing  of  the  Armistice,  there  were 
but  sixteen  of  these  small  camps  in  the  area  and  when 
arrangements  had  been  made  between  the  American  Air 
Service  and  the  British  Air  Force  for  their  evacuation, 
this  was  accomplished  within  twenty  days. 

One  of  the  tremendous  undertakings  of  the  American 
Army  in  Great  Britain  was  the  construction  of  huge  day- 
and-night-bombing  camps  in  the  south  of  England,  at  and 
in  the  vicinity  of  Ford  Junction.  Here  an  army  build- 
ing plan  of  vast  importance  was  under  way  throughout 
1918,  aiming  at  the  destructive  bombing  of  Germany 
in  1919.  In  these  camps  the  Red  Cross  not  only  attended 
to  the  wants  of  the  construction  battalions,  but  was  plan- 
ning for  the  still  larger  work  when  the  camps  should  be 
completed  and  American  aviation  squadrons  installed  in 
their  quarters.  Plans  were  made  for  adequate  infirmaries 
and  Red  Cross  warehouses  in  every  one  of  these  camps 
and  work  was  well  advanced  when  the  Armistice  called  a 
halt.  In  every  case  the  necessary  Red  Cross  buildings 
would  have  been  ready  before  the  opening  of  the  camp. 

At  its  maximum  of  efficiency,  the  .Eed  Cross  canteen 
service  —  one  of  its  most  valuable  endeavors  —  comprised 
a  dozen  units  and  a  personnel  somewhat  above  400  workers. 
The  expedition  with  which  American  troops  were  conveyed 
out  of  Great  Britain  after  the  Armistice  caused  a  propor- 
tionate curtailment  of  this  work,  but  by  the  time  it  was 
concluded  it  "had  served  more  than  a  million  and  a  half 
meals  to  the  men  of  the  army  and  navy ;  it  had  given  away 
hundreds  of  millions  of  cigarettes,  packages  of  tobacco, 
and  bars  of  chocolate  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  gal- 
lons of  coffee.  It  had  performed  its  tasks  at  every  hour 
known  to  the  clock,  was  never  late  for  any  service,  and 


ALONG  THE  L.  0.  C.  95 

surmounted  obstacles  with  the  certainty  if  not  the  speed  of 
a  crack  220  hurdler. 

The  army  headquarters  canteen  for  officers  was  estab- 
lished in  response  to  requests  from  American  officers  sta- 
tioned in  London,  who  asked  if  the  Red  Cross  could  do 
anything  to  help  in  providing  meals  for  the  constantly  in- 
creasing staffs  working  at  both  army  and  navy  headquart- 
ers in  Grosvenor  Gardens.  Restaurant  facilities  in  that 
section  of  the  city  were  so  overtaxed  at  the  time  and  so 
many  new  difficulties  were  constantly  arising,  owing  to  the 
scarcity  and  rationing  of  foods,  that  it  was  decided  to  act 
immediately.  Most  of  the  ground  floor  and  basement  of 
the  main  headquarters  building  of  the  army,  the  Belgrave 
.Mansions  Hotel,  was  allotted  for  the  purpose  and  in  a  short 
time  four  large  dining  rooms  and  the  necessary  kitchens, 
all  the  equipment  for  which  the  Red  Cross  supplied,  were 
opened.  The  average  number  of  meals  served  was  at  first 
650  luncheons  and  225  dinners  weekly,  but  later  the 
figures  rose  to  about  1,500  luncheons  and  500  dinners. 
These  were  furnished  at  a  uniform  price  of  two  shillings 
and  sixpence  for  luncheon  and  three  shillings  sixpence  for 
dinner.  The  menus  were  simple  but  many  purely  Ameri- 
can dishes  were  introduced  and  the  restaurant  became 
very  popular.  A  special  room  was  reserved  for  the  com- 
manding general  and  his  immediate  staff  where  they  could 
gather  each  day  at  luncheon  for  a  conference,  and  where 
officers  who  were  detained  past  the  regular  hour  could 
obtain  what  they  wished.  From  the  beginning  this 
restaurant  paid  all  its  own  expenses,  for,  from  its  opening 
on  June  5  until  headquarters  were  abandoned,  more  than 
28,000  meals  were  served.  As  soon  as  this  enterprise 
was  running  smoothly,  a  similar  one  for  women  workers 
at  headquarters  was  installed  with  a  capacity  of  125  seats. 
This  achieved  a  weekly  average  of  730  gpatrons  and  also 
was  self-supporting  from  the  outset. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  scarcely  one  Londoner  in  ten  thou- 


96  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

sand  realized  at  the  time  how  extensively  the  Port  of 
London  was  used  during  the  late  summer  and  early  autumn 
of  1918  as  a  gateway  for  American  soldiers  arriving  in 
Europe.  The  city  itself  saw  practically  nothing  of  them, 
for  the  British  capital  is  a  place  of  tremendous  areas  and 
distances  and  the  Royal  Albert  and  Tilbury  Docks,  where 
the  troopships  debarked  their  men,  are  in  districts  far 
remote  from  those  of  ordinary  town  traffic  and  occupa- 
tion. There  was  no  delaying  there  by  which  to  call  at- 
tention to  them;  within  a  short  time  of  their  arrival  the 
American  soldiers  were  almost  invariably  put  into  trains 
which  were  already  awaiting  them  at  the  docks  and 
hastened  to  Winchester  by  routes  with  which  a  large  ma- 
jority of  Londoners  never  came  in  touch.  If  marches 
across  the  city  were  necessary  they  were  made  at  night, 
because  troop  movements  in  the  neighborhood  of  London 
were  guardedly  conducted. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Port  of  London  was  the  second 
in  importance  in  the  British  Isles  in  point  of  numbers 
of  American  soldiers  debarked  from  the  trans-Atlantic 
troopships.  It  welcomed  no  such  thousands  as  Liverpool, 
it  is  true,  but  more  than  twice  as  many  as  either  South- 
hampton  or  Glasgow,  its  nearest  rivals.  The  first  troops 
came  in  May,  1918.  The  numbers  of  officers  and  men  arriv- 
ing at  the  London  docks  during  that  month  and  those  suc- 
ceeding, when  the  stream  of  incoming  Americans  taxed 
every  port  facility  of  France  as  well  as  England,  were  as 
follows : 

Month  Officers         Men  Total 

May    104  4,746  4,850 

June  751  22,605  23,356 

July    529  17,260  17,789 

August       464  18,105  18,569 

September     428  17,101  17,529 

October      52  2,002  2,054 


Totals  2,328  81,819  84,147 

Thus,  from  May  to  November,  the  Red  Cross  work  for 


ALONG  THE  L.  0.  C.  97 

so  large  a  military  force  was  of  much  importance. 
Although  the  army  and  navy  authorities  strove  to  keep 
secret  the  time  of  troopship  arrivals  until  the  vessels  them- 
selves were  practically  in  sight  of  the  docks,  the  Red  Cross, 
thanks  mainly  to  the  good  friends  and  the  ''underground 
wireless  '  apparatus  of  the  resourceful  "  Flying  Squad- 
ron," managed  to  get  news  of  them  and  was  always  on 
hand  to  see  that  no  man  landed  without  a  cup  of  coffee, 
or  a  bite  to  eat  and  a  welcoming  word. 

In  the  early  days  of  transport  arrival  the  Eed  Cross 
served  the  troops  from  rolling  canteens  — "  tanks,"  they 
were  called  —  supplies  being  carried  from  the  London 
warehouses.  Sometimes  local  organizations  volunteered 
assistance  and  lent  suitable  places  for  the  preparation  of 
refreshments.  But  very  soon,  in  order  that  the  wants  of 
the  newcomers  might  be  better  and  more  conveniently 
satisfied,  the  Red  Cross  established  stations  at  both  the 
docks.  The  canteen  at  Royal  Albert  was  set  up  in  a  pier 
building  lent  by  the  Blue  Funnel  Line  of  steamships  and 
that  at  Tilbury  in  the  Thames  Church  Mission,  the  use 
of  which  was  graciously  proffered  by  St.  John's  Church, 
the  Red  Cross  renovating  and  furnishing  the  building  to 
serve  its  new  purpose. 

The  last  time  the  canteen  at  Tilbury  was  in  service  will 
be  remembered  for  many  a  day.  It  was  in  mid-December, 
when  the  Saxonia  sailed  for  ^ew  York  with  1,400  Ameri- 
can wounded  from  the  hospitals  in  Great  Britain.  There 
had  been  joyous  anticipation  among  those  told  off  for  the 
voyage,  because  it  meant  that  they  were  to  be  at  home  for 
Christmas.  Although  they  had  to  spend  many  hours  in 
their  hospital  trains  -  -  from  the  hospitals  in  the  south 
to  Waterloo  station  in  London,  thence  through  the  city  and 
across  the  Thames  and  down  to  the  far-away  docks  —  they 
cheered  themselves  with  the  knowledge  that  they  were 
actually  "  going  home."  In  one  of  the  trains  were  170 
men,  all  leg  cases,  the  larger  number  of  them  on  cratches 
from  bad  wounds  or  amputations,  some  hobbling  with  the 


98  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

aid  of  stout  canes.  These  were  the  most  cheerful  of  all 
the  disabled  men ;  even  the  very  sick  ones  in  their  cots,  and 
these  prepondered  in  the  c'onvoy,  seemed  to  envy  them, 
empty  trousers-legs  and  all. 

And  so  they  came  to  Tilbury  and  to  the  big  steam- 
ship that  had  been  made  ready  for  them.  The  Ked  Cross, 
too,  had  prepared,  not  alone  by  assembling  supplies  for 
distribution,  but  by  detailing  representatives  to  accompany 
the  trains  from  the  hospitals  to  the  docks.  Once  there,  the 
canteen  service  for  the  walking  cases  was  simple  enough; 
these  could  gather  about  the  tables  in  the  mission  and  do 
much  toward  helping  themselves.  With  the  cot  cases  it 
was  very  different.  These  were  carried  from  the  trains 
by  British  stretcher  bearers  and  placed  in  rows  in  pier 
sheds  for  checking  before  being  swung  aboard  ship.  While 
they  were  thus  waiting,  the  Red  Cross  canteen  women 
went  among  them  with  coffee,  sandwiches,  oranges,  choco- 
late and  cigarettes  and  all  the  cheerfulness  they  could 
muster.  Many  of  the  men  were  too  weak  to  rise  to  drink 
or  were  prevented  by  their  wounds  from  making  the  effort, 
so  the  workers  lifted  their  heads  and  held  the  coffee  cups 
wherever  it  was  possible^  Others  drank  with  the  aid  of 
glass  tubes  and  all  received  their  share  of  the  good  things. 
Oranges,  cigarettes,  and  chocolate  were  tucked  under  the 
cot  coverings  for  another  day,  and  when  time  came  to  hoist 
the  men  aboard  in  the  derrick  slings,  several  went  gayly  up 
in  the  air  with  cups  of  coffee  in  their  hands  and  small- 
boy  grins  on  their  thin  faces. 

As  the  cot  cases  were  justly  deemed  the  most  serious 
in  the  convoy  and  as  first  attention  was  given  to  placing 
them  on  the  ship,  the  leg  cases,  those  170  men  from  Dart- 
ford,  were,  after  they  filed  from  the  canteen,  left  rather 
to  themselves  to  await  their  turn  to  embark.  As  no  par- 
ticular provision  for  this  period  had  been  made  in  their 
behalf,  there  was  nothing  for  them  to  do  save  "  stand 
around  ' '  on  the  pier.  A  large  number  of  these  men  had 
never  before  been  on  crutches  and  were  suffering  great 


ALONG  THE  L.  0.  C.  99 

discomfort  from  their  \vounds  and  also  from  the  new  and 
tiring  method  of  locomotion  imposed  upon  them.  So,  one 
by  one,  they  backed  against  a  shed  and  rested  there,  striv- 
ing their  utmost  to  forget  their  troubles  because  in  a  little 
while  they  would  go  aboard  and  then  everything  would  be 
all  right.  But  they  stood  there  for  a  long,  long  time, 
would  probably  have  remained  in  their  discomfort  till 
the  end  if  a  Red  Cross  woman,  on  her  way  from  the  line 
of  cots,  had  not  sensed  their  plight.  They  needed  some- 
thing to  sit  on,  that  was  what  was  the  matter,  and  not  an- 
other soul  had  thought  of  it!  With  a  single  word  of  ap- 
peal, the  Red  Cross  women  and  those  of  the  Voluntary  Aid 
Detachment  of  St.  John's  Ambulance  Brigade  (they  were 
known  as  the  V.  A.  D.,  a  series  of  letters  as  familiar  in 
England  as  A.  R.  C.  or  G.  H.  Q.  or  W.  A.  A.  C.  or  any 
of  the  countless  others  which  war-talk  used  instead  of  the 
full  title)  who  were  helping  with  the  cot  cases,  gathered 
planks  and  boxes  and  barrels  from  the  pier  and  within  ten 
minutes  had  fashioned  seats  for  all  who  wanted  them. 

Until  late  in  the  afternoon  the  cots  were  swung  up  to 
the  decks  and  when  the  last  of  them  had  been  accounted 
for,  then  came  a  moment  of  unparalleled  disappointment 
for  those  patient  men  on  crutches  who  had  waited  so  long. 
They  were  told  that  they  could  not  be  taken  aboard  the 
Saxonia;  that  their  wounds  and  disabilities  were  such  that 
they  could  not  get  into  upper  berths  and  no  lower  ones  were 
available;  that  they  must  return  to  Dartford  until  a  later 
time  when  provision  for  their  transport  could  be  arranged. 

The  look  of  dismay,  of  bitter  broken-heartedness  that 
swept  into  the  faces  of  those  men  is  indescribable.  It 
was  a  hard  moment  even  for  the  Red  Cross  women  to  bear. 
The  one,  the  foremost  thing  toward  which  each  man  had 
turned  his  eyes,  Christmas  at  home,  was,  with  a  single 
order,  struck  from  his  vision.  It  is  not  strange  that  tears 
came  to  many  of  them,  for  they  were  already  weak  and 
tired  out.  The  Red  Cross  women  did  what  they  could, 
but  it  was  vain,  just  at  first,  to  beguile  their  acute,  wretched 


100  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

disappointment.  The  men  themselves,  the  ones  stouter  of 
heart,  were  those  who  did  most  to  trick  their  fellows  out 
of  their  unhappiness.  They  accomplished  it  with  the  best 
of  all  devices  at  such  -a  4ime,  a  jest.  How  they  managed 
to  laugh  is  inconceivable,  but  they  did  it.  Men  who  had 
not  written  to  say  they  would  be  home  for  Christmas  were 
the  ones  to  start  it,  and  they  made  heroic  use  of  their 
negligence.  One  youngster  on  two  crutches  cried,  "  See, 
you  guys,  it  doesn't  pay  to  write  home  sometimes,  no 
matter  what  they  tell  you.  A  lot  of  you  fellows  have  gone 
and  told  your  folks  or  your  best  girls  that  you'd  be  with 
them  this  Christmas.  Sfow  see  where  that's  got  you !  If 
you'd  been  lazy  like  me  you  wouldn't  have  said  a  word, 
and  then  you'd  be  the  only  one  disappointed,  and  you're 
old  enough  and  ugly  enough  to  stand  that,  I  guess.  Take 
it  from  me,  keep  off  that  letter  stuff !  ' 

And  just  as  he  finished,  one  of  the  men  whose  leg  was 
gone  at  the  hip,  turned  to  a  Red  Cross  woman  and  whis- 
pered behind  his  hand,  "  That  boy's  just  kidding.  I  saw 
him  writing  to  his  mother  all  about  Christmas  less  than 
a  month  ago.  He  even  told  me  what  he'd  asked  her  to 
have  for  dinner.  He's  some  kidder ! ' 

Another  stalwart  soul  bent  the  joke  backward  upon  him- 
self. The  little  crowd  was  standing,  swaying  uncertainly 
when  he  piped  up.  "  Well,  boys,"  he  cried,  "  I've  seen 
the  London  docks-,  and  that's  something,  'cause  I  never 
expected  to  see  them.  They're  not  much  to  look  at  and 
they  don't  get  any  better  by  looking  at  them  any  longer, 
so  let's  go,  there's  the  train ! ' 

It  was  a  silent,  miserable  line  that  stumped  off  to  the 
waiting  cars,  the  same  that  had  brought  them  to  Tilbury 
several  hours  before.  Some  had  been  too  outspoken  in 
their  resignation  to  be  convincing,  others  were  still  past 
hiding  the  tears  in  their  eyes.  They  clambered  awkwardly 
up  the  step  and  either  strangely  or  naturally,  as  you  will, 
crowded  to  the  windows  which  looked  across  to  the  trans- 
port which  would  leave  them  behind.  Although  it  was 


ALONG  THE  L.  0.  C.  iOi 

winter,  the  windows  were  opened  and  just  as  the  train 
drew  away  a  voice  sang  out,  "  Now,  all  together,  three 
cheers  for  the  fellows  going  home !  ' 

Perhaps  the  roaring  answer  reached  the  Saxonia,  per- 
haps not,  but  let's  hope  it  did,  for  there  was  not  a  man 
in  the  train  who  failed  to  respond.  Car  after  car  took 
up  the  cry  of  farewell  until  the  ship  had  passed  from 
sight.  A  Eed  Cross  woman  went  back  to  Dartford  on  this 
train  in  an  effort  to  keep  the  sparks  of  cheerfulness  alive, 
but  these  were  cold  and  dead  when  the  party  reached  the 
hospital  at  nine  o'clock  that  night.  Fortunately  these  un- 
happy men  had  only  a  little  while  to  wait  as  within  two 
weeks  they  were  put  aboard  the  Mauretania  which  reached 
America  just  a  few  days  behind  the  slower  Saxonia.  And 
the  Saxonia  herself,  expected  to  arrive  in  New  York  on 
December  24th,  did  not  reach  port  until  two  days  later. 
But  the  Red  Cross  had  prepared  for  a  possible  delay,  th'e 
Canteen  Service  placing  aboard  the  ship  a  large  Christmas 
tree  with  a  boxful  of  the  usual  trinkets  for  its  decoration 
and  provided  for  each  of  the  men  a  Christmas  stocking  con- 
taining a  package  of  cigarettes,  a  pair  of  socks,  two  hand- 
kerchiefs, a  box  of  candy  and  a  bag  of  nuts.  These  had 
been  made  ready  by  the  Receiving  and  Distributing  Serv- 
ice in  George  Street  and  represented  only  a  small  part  of 
the  15,000  stockings  which  it  filled  and  sent  out  in  less 
than  two  weeks. 

There  were  many  other  sorts  of  canteen  work  organized 
in  London  in  response  to  the  emergencies  constantly  arising 
at  this  great  center.  Scarcely  a  week  passed  that  did  not 
bring  its  quota  of  men,  wounded  and  others,  passing 
through  the  city,  for  whom  such  provision  was  necessary. 
Numbers  of  these  men  could  be  and  were  met  at  the  rail- 
way stations  as  their  trains  came  in,  the  "  Flying  Squad- 
ron '  always  being  ready  with  its  "  rolling  canteens  ' 
to  make  a  light-artillery  dash  into  action  at  any  hour  day 
or  night.  But  for  the  service  of  casual  parties  of  soldiers 
or  sailors  the  Red  Cross  established  a  fully  equipped  can- 


102  'THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

teen  in  the  Military  Relief  headquarters  building  at  No. 
52  Grosvenor  Gardens,  the  home,  too,  of  the  "  Flying 
Squadron."  There  a  large  reception  room  was  set  aside 
for  the  purpose  and  its  patrons  were  both  numerous  and 
various.  One  day  there  would  be  parties  of  men  on  leave, 
or  wounded  men  from  the  London  hospitals  or  from  Tot- 
tenham or  Dartford,  while  on  other  occasions  the  guests 
might  be  returning  prisoners  of  war  or  baseball  teams  of 
sailors  or  soldiers  on  their  way  back  from  matches  in  not 
distant  camps. 

The  wounded  men,  as  well  as  the  others  who  "  just 
dropped  in,"  always  had  a  happy  time  at  No.  52.  There 
was  a  piano  for  them  to  bang  on  and  invite  the  inevitable 
song;  furthermore,  they  could  fill  themselves  with  coffee, 
doughnuts,  and  chocolate  and  smoke  all  they  wished  of  the 
cigarettes  they  most  preferred.  It  was  an  eye-opener,  this 
warm,  comfortable  canteen  in  the  heart  of  London.  When 
one  party  belonging  to  the  27th  and  30th  American  divi- 
sions which  had  been  brigaded  with  the  British,  came 
to  No.  52,  a  soldier  insisted  upon  sitting  off  in  a  corner  by 
himself.  He  stared  about  him  with  all-devouring  eyes. 
A  canteen  worker,  fearing  that  bashfulness  might  have 
caused  him  to  be  overlooked,  asked  if  he  wished  a  cup  of 
coffee,  a  bun,  or  something  else.  He  looked  up  slowly 
and  replied,  "  Please  don't  ask  me  anything.  Don't  say  a 
word  to  me,  sister !  I'm  in  Paradise ! J  His  glance  again 
swept  round  the  room.  "  Heat,  electric  lights,  American 
women  talking  —  Good  Lord,  Miss,  you  don't  know  what 
all  this  means  to  me.  I've  been  eight  months  over  there 
at  the  front  —  eight  months  ! ' 

Sightseeing  trips  about  London  in  comfortable  con- 
veyances were  always  arranged  by  the  Red  Cross  for  all 
the  parties  that  came  to  52.  Visits  were  made  to  S.t. 
Paul's,  the  Abbey,  Whitehall,  the  Parliament  Buildings, 
Buckingham  Palace,  the  Tower,  10  Downing  Street,  and 
many  other  places  in  a  long  and  interesting  itinerary.  This 
journey  consumed  about  five  hours,  after  which  the 


ALONG  THE  L.  0.  C.  103 

wounded  would  be  taken  back  to  their  hospitals  or  trains 
and  the  others  started  on  their  way  to  the  camps  from 
which  thev  had  come.  Usually  they  went  away  with  their 

«-  V  •/  V 

pockets  bulging  with  oranges,  chocolate,  cigarettes  and  bis- 
cuits. 

Returning  wrar  prisoners  were  always  met  at  the  rail- 
way stations  and  conveyed  in  chartered  busses  to  the  haven 
of  52.  Twenty  of  them  came  in  at  Waterloo  station  one 

«/ 

day.  They  had  been  prisoners  at  Stargard  for  nearly  six 
months  and  the  wounded  among  them  wrere  in  a  much  de- 
pressed state  through  lack  of  care  of  their  injuries.  These, 
they  said,  had  been  dressed  carelessly  with  paper  bandages 
by  the  German  surgeons,  and  none  too  often;  medicines 
had  been  lacking  for  them  in  the  prison  camp ;  and  but  for 
British  medical  officers  in  the  camp  they  would  have  fared 
much  worse.  When  they  reached  52  they  were  treated  to 
the  luxury  of  a  warm  bath  and  plied  with  food  until  they 
could  hold  no  morej  after  which  they  went  for  the  trip 
about  the  city.  As  they  had  arrived  in  England  in  a 
conglomeration  of  French,  Belgian  and  British  uniforms, 
with  Scarcely  a  remnant  of  their  own  remaining,  the  Red 
Cross  provided  them  with  an  American  outfit.  While  they 
were  at  52,  any  cablegrams  they  wished  sent  home  were 
forwarded  at  once,  gratis,  by  the  Red  Cross  and  when  din- 
ner time  came  round  they  were  taken  to  the  soldiers'  mess 
at  army  headcfuarters  across  the  way.  By  this  time  they 
had  "  bucked  up  '  remarkably  well,  so  much  so,  indeed, 
that  when  one  of  the  Red  Cross  women  offered  to  help  a 
wounded  man  with  his  food;  he  replied,  "  Oh,  no,  Miss, 
you've  done  a  lot  for  me  already  and  you  must  be  tired. 
Please  go  sit  down,  my  pal  here  will  help  me  all  I  need." 
Special  canteens  for  these  weary  returning  men  were 
established  at  Dover,  Ripon,  Hull,  and  Leith,  and  it  was 
by  way  of  Hull  that  the  first  American  war  prisoners 
reached  England.  They  arrived  at  the  end  of  November 
and  there  were  only  eight  in  this  distinguished  party: 
Corporals  Lee  H.  Whitehead,  of  Jeffrey,  Ky. ;  Jack  Bath- 


104  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

gate,  of  New  Haven,  Conn. ;  Leroy  E.  Congleton,  of  Phil- 
adelphia, Pa. ;  and  Thomas  Barry,  of  New  Haven,  Conn., 
and  Privates  James  Pitochelli,  of  Providence,  R.  I. ;  Wil- 
liam B.  O'Sullivan,  of  Bristol,  Conn. ;  Frank  Butler,  of 
New  Haven,  and  William  Lilly,  of  Southington,  Conn. 
When  they  arrived  they  were  met  by  Lieut.  Alexander  Hol- 
land, of  the  Red  Cross,  who  took  them  first  to  the  repatria- 
tion camp  at  Ripon  and  then  brought  them  to  London  and, 
of  course,  to  52,  where  they  were  entertained  before  going 
on  to  Winchester^  Most  of  them  were  in  British  uniforms, 
so  the  Red  Cross  refitted  them  completely.  The  entire 
party  was  in  excellent  health  and  spirits. 

"  We  owe  it  chiefly  to  the  food  packages  and  good  under- 
clothing the  Red  Cross  sent  us  from  Switzerland,"  said 
Bathgate,  exhibiting  a  piece  of  German,  black  bread  about 
two  inches  square  as  evidence  of  their  prison  camp  rations. 
"  This  and  a  bowl  of  soup  which  was  more  like  muddy 
water,  were  about  all  we  got  from  the  Germans  for  our 
every-day  meals.  If  it  had  not  been  for  the  Red  Cross 
food  we.  wouldn't  be  looking  so  well  —  we  mightn't  be  here 
at  all." 

The-  eight  were  taken  prisoners  with  180  other  Ameri- 
cans at  Siecheprey,  where  the  Germans  made  a  surprise  at- 
tack in  overwhelming  numbers  on  a  small  American  de- 
tachment. They  became  separated  from  the  other  prison- 
ers and  found  themselves  first  at  a  Darmstadt  camp,  then  at 
Limburg  and  finally  at  Apladem  in  the  Rhine  district, 
where  they  were  assigned  to  a  working  party  shifting 
freight  cars.  They  were  at  Apladem  when  the  Armistice 
was  signed  and  two  or  three  days  later  were  placed  in  a 
train  for  Holland,  sailing,  with  a  large  party  of  British 
prisoners,  from  Rotterdam. 

"  We  got  an  intimation  about  an  armistice  on  November 
8th,"  said  Barry,  "  but  it  turned  out  to  be  a.  false  alarm. 
Later  on,  in  the  afternoon  of  Monday,  November  llth, 
there  was  a  curious  unrest  among  the  guards  about  the 
camp,  and  pretty  soon  a  party  of  German  marines  ap- 


ALONG  THE  L.  0.  C.  105 

peared  and  began  smashing  things  up.  A  German  private 
told  us  the  war  was  over,  but  we  didn't  know  whether 
to  believe  him  or  not.  There  was  a  lot  of  noise  in  the 
town  of  Apladem  and  the  next  thing  we  knew,  a  gang  of 
these  marines  came  round  again,  tearing  rank  badges  off 
the  German  officers  and  snapping  fingers  in  their  faces. 
When  the  officers  didn't  show  any  sign  of  fight  we  knew 
the  war  must  be  over  sure  enough.  We  didn't  want  to 
let  them  see  us  jubilating  just  then,  but  after  a  while, 
when  the  guards  got  to  running  about  the  camp  and  not 
paying  any  attention  at  all  to  us,  we  let  every  one  know 
just  how  glad  we  were  over  it." 

Ripon,  a  British  camp,  was  the  most  important  clear- 
ing station  in  England  for  American  war  prisoners.  All 
who  came  by  way  of  either  Copenhagen  or  Rotterdam  and 
landed  at  Hull,  Newcastle,  or  Leith,  save  hospital  cases, 
were  taken  there  at  once,  so  it  was  made  a  Red  Cross  out- 
post canteen.  Lieutenant  Holland,  in  charge  of  it,  had 
quarters  in  an  old  camp  guardhouse  in  which  he  also  kept 
a  generous  store  of  underclothing  and  comfort  necessities 
and,  later,  a  stock  of  uniforms,  because  the  Americans  were 
usually  clad  in  British  tunics  and  not  infrequently  in  Ger- 
man prison  dress  of  black  with  broad  yellow  stripes  on  back 
and  trousers  and  black  and  yellow  cap.  Prisoners  gen- 
erally arrived  between  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  and  4 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  but  no  matter  what  the  hour  might 
be,  all,  Americans  and  British  alike,  were  first  interrogated 
by  a  Royal  Commission  of  attorneys  as  to  their  personal 
knowledge  of  atrocities  committed  by  the  Germans.  In 
case  their  statements  warranted  it,  they  were  requested 
to  make  affidavits,  duly  drawn  and  signed.  After  that  the 
Americans  were  released  into  Lieutenant  Holland's  hands. 
He,  too,  had  a  routine  for  them,  and  one  of  inestimable 
value.  He  went  over  with  every  man  the  entire  "  List 
of  the  Missing '  prepared  at  army  headquarters,  to  learn 
if  he  knew  anything  of  the  fate  of  any  man  therein.  In 
this  way  he  was  enabled  to  discover  something  definite  in 


106  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

the  cases  of  150  American  soldiers  whose  records  had,  up 
to  that  time,  ended  with  the  ominous  word  "  missing." 
Some  of  the  war  prisoners  had  been  beside  "  missing ' 
men  when  they  were  killed,  or  had  seen  them  buried  by 
exploding  shells ;  some  were  even  positive  that  "  missing  ' 
men  had  been  taken  prisoners  and  were  too  badly  wounded 
to  have  given  an  account  of  themselves.  Every  one  of  the 
Americans  had  his  story  to  tell  of  hardship,  and,  while 
these  differed  in  several  ways,  there  was  one  point  of  com- 
mon agreement:  that  they  would  have  starved  in  the  Ger- 
man prison  camps  without  the  packages  the  American  Red 
Cross  sent  in  from  Berne,  and  not  a  few  added  that  they 
never  received  -a  Red  Cross  box  from  which  something 
had  not  been  stolen  before  it  reached  them.  One  man  told 
Lieutenant  Holland  that  he  had  been  captured  in  No- 
vember, 1917,  and  taken  to  Berlin  where,  with  others, 
he  was  paraded  through  the  streets  under  a  heavy  guard 
which,  however,  did  not  prevent  the  German  women  from 
spitting  on  the  American  soldiers  as  they  passed.  This 
man  drove  a  motor  lorry  in  Berlin  for  the  German  Gov- 
ernment until  the  signing  of  the  Armistice.  A  few  of  the 
Americans,  the  prisoners  said,  had  to  work  in  ammunition 
dumps  just  back  of  the  German  lines  and  under  shell  fire 
of  their  own  guns.  There  were  -also  frequent  complaints 
of  the  treatment  they  had  received  in  German  hospitals, 
and  one  prisoner,  whose  leg  had  been  broken  by  shrapnel, 
said  that  the  German  doctors  gave  him  little  or  no  care. 
About  once  a  week,  he  explained,  a  doctor  would  unwrap 
the  dirty  bandages  about  his  leg,  look  at  the  wound,  throw 
the  bandages  back  upon  his  leg  in  a  mass  and  walk  out  of 
the  ward. 

In  addition  to  providing  these  men  with  clothing  and 
such  things,  Lieutenant  Holland  gave  them  ten  shillings 
apiece  as  a  loan  from  the  Red  Cross,  the  receipts  being 
sent  to  the  regimental  paymaster.  Eor  those  who  wished 
it,  cablegrams  telling  their  people  of  their  safe  deliver- 
ance from  German  hands  were  sent  by  the  Red  Cross.  At 


ALONG  THE  L.  O.  C.  107 

9  o'clock  in  the  morning  after  their  arrival  at  Ripon,  they 
left  for  London,  to  go  to  No.  52  and  see  the  welcome 
sights  of  the  city  under  Red  Cross  auspices  until  it  was 
time  for  them  to  be  on  their  way  to  Winchester.  The 
Ripon  service  was  maintained  from  November  until  the 
close  of  the  first  week  of  February,  and  in  that  time  280 
soldiers  and  14  officers  passed  through  Lieutenant  Hol- 
land's office  and  were  aided  in  more  than  one  way. 

The  army  knew  how  well  the  Red  Cross  would  care  for 
these  homing  prisoners  for,  in  one  instance,  a  squad  of 
eight  of  them  arrived  at  Winchester  with  no  papers,  no 
idea  where  to  go  beyond  following  the  verbal  instructions 
they  had  received  to  "  report  to  the  American  Red  Cross." 
So  it  found  rooms  for  the  night  for  them  at  a  local  hotel 
and  next  morning,  after  a  hot  bath  and  a  good  breakfast, 
they  were  transferred  to  the  military  authorities  at  the 
Morn  Hill  Rest  Camp. 

Red  Cross  work  at  Dover  dated  from  October,  1918,  at 
which  time  wounded  were  beginning  to  come  through  the 
port  in  large  numbers  from  the  divisions  brigaded  with  the 
British  on  the  Flanders  front.  Hitherto,  these  wounded 
had  mainly  come  through  Southampton,  where  a  canteen 
service  was  also  in  operation.  An  office  was  established  on 
the  Admiralty  Pier  and  arrangements  made  with  the  Brit- 
ish naval  authorities  for  one  American  Red  Cross  woman 
worker  to  go  on  the  pier  as  Assistant  Reception  Officer. 
This  worker  was  constantly  on  hand  as  the  stretchers  were 
brought  from  the  hospital  transports  and  the  Americans 
separated  from  the  British  wounded.  She  talked  with 
the  Americans,  distributed  comforts  of  various  kinds  and 
assisted  the  medical  debarkation  officer  in  the  task  of  as- 
signing them  to  various  American  or  British  hospitals 
under  advices  from  the  office  of  the  Chief  Surgeon  of  the 
Army  in  London.  The  wounded  were  always  anxious  to 
learn  to  what  hospital  they  were  to  go  and  asked  all  sorts 
of  questions  concerning  the  men  already  there  and  the 
identity  of  the  medical  unit  in  charge.  There  was  every 


108  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

token  of  the  appreciation  that  these  men  felt  at  being  met 
by  the  Red  Cross,  particularly  by  a  woman.  "  This  is 
the  best  medicine  yet,"  was  a  frequent  comment  from  the 
men  who  had,  perhaps,  not  seen  an  American  woman  for 
months.  "  From  the  point  of  view  of  morale,  this  work 
is  very  important,"  wrote  an  American  officer  of  the  army 
whose  duties  brought  him  constantly  into  contact  with  the 
work  of  debarkation  at  Dover,  and  he  added,  "  It  is  pleasant 
to  see  the  work  of  our  American  Red  Cross  beginning  right 
here  at  the  pier  as  soon  as  our  wounded  reach  England,  and 
continued  all  the  way  through  their  hospital  career.  The 
mental  stimulus  of  this  work  at  the  docks  is  always  notice- 
able." 

Frequently  as  many  as  eight  hospital  transports  would 
come  to  Dover  in  a  single  day  and  the  American  Red  Cross 
was  on  hand  to  meet  them  all,  not  only  to  attend  to  its  own 
men  but  also  to  lend  such  aid  as  it  could  to  the  men  of  its 
ally.i  It  also  cared  for  the  Americans  at  two  near-by  fly- 
ing camps  and  there  was  occasional  hospital  visiting  to  be 
done.  The  Emergency  Bureau  had  a  station  there  with 
supplies,  as  Dover  was  an  important  "  listening  post"  for 
news  of  torpedoings  or  other  marine  disasters.  After  the 
signing  of  the  Armistice  this  port  became  the  gateway  for 
many  returning  American  prisoners  who  had  been  in  Ger- 
man camps  for  months  and  were  more  than  verbally  ap- 
preciative of  the  care  and  attention  they  received  when 
their  ships  came  in. 

There  was  always  a  great  amount  of  work  for  the  Red 
Cross  in  the  Winchester  area,  for  it  was  the  chief  American 
military  zone  in  Great  Britain.  Large  offices  were  main- 
tained in  the  city  itself  with  branches  at  Portsmouth,  Ames- 
bury,  Morn  Hill,  Romsey,  and  Hursley,  in  each  of  which 
were  large  hospitals  and  great  numbers  of  troops  in  transit. 
The  canteen  service  had  stations  at  Romsey,  Codford,  and 
Portsmouth,  with  an  "  Exchange  "  also  at  the  base  hospital 
at  the  latter  place.  Camp  service  was  active  at  about 


ALONG  THE  L.  0.  C.  109 

fifteen  different  points,  including  the  great  American  tank 
camps  at  Wareham,  the  American  construction  camps  at 
Chattis  Hill  and  Lopcombe  Corner,  and  aviation  camps  at 
Andover,  Boscombe  Down,  Flowerdown,  Lake  Down, 
Netherhaven,  Old  Sarum,  Stonehenge,  Upavon,  Yatesbury, 
and  Worthy  Down.  There  were  large  rest  camps  at  Morn 
Hill,  Romsey,  Codford,  and  Standon.  The  Emergency 
Relief  Bureau  had  stations  at  Winchester,  Wevmouth  and 

«/ 

Portsmouth.  Hospital  service  was  active  at  Winchester, 
Hursley,  Roinsey,  Portsmouth,  Codford,  Chattis  Hill, 
Highcliffe  and  Chichester.  Red  Cross  camp  infirmaries 
were  established  at  Boscombe  Down,  Old  Sarum,  Yates- 
bury,  Lake  Down  and  Emsworth.  Work  in  behalf  of 
American  nurses  was  maintained  at  Winchester,  Ports- 
mouth, Romsey  and  Hursley. 

The  foregoing  is  cited  as  sufficient  proof,  certainly,  of 
the  magnitude  of  what  the  Red  Cross  had  to  do  in  one  area 
alone.  Its  scope  of  service  was  all-embracing,  unlimited, 
ranging  from  helping  a  casual  soldier  to  get  married  to 
building  and  equipping  an  entire  hospital.  "  The  Ameri- 
can Red  Cross  has  been  the  Fairy  Godmother  of  the  army," 
is  what  an  officer  wrote  from  one  of  the  Winchester  camps. 

Red  Cross  work  was  begun  at  Winchester  in  February, 
1918,  its  first  offices,  which  it  soon  outgrew,  being  in  an 
ancient  dwelling  designed  by  Sir  Christopher  Wren  for 
King  James  II.  During  the  course  of  the  year  1918,  the 
staff  dealt  with  many  emergencies  in  which  quick  thinking 
and  rapid  action  were  necessary.  During  the  first  stages 
of  the  influenza  epidemic,  when  patients  were  being  brought 
daily  into  all  the  available  hospitals,  accommodations  were 
soon  swamped  and  the  Red  Cross  shared  with  the  medical 
authorities  of  the  army  the  task  of  providing  extra  beds, 
pneumonia  jackets  and  equipment  of  all  kinds  for  the  sick 
men.  At  one  period  the  Supply  Department  of  the  Red 
Cross  at  Winchester  was  called  upon  to  furnish  14,500  fresh 
eggs  weekly  over  a  term  of  several  weeks  and  in  the  face  of 


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ALONG  THE  L.  0.  C.  Ill 

which  furnished  the  turkeys  for  every  hospital  in  the  Win- 
chester area. 

Five  Red  Cross  dental  officers  were  assigned  to  this  zone 
and  did  a  great  deal  of  appreciated  work.  And,  of  course, 
there  was  a  canteen  service  which  met  every  train  and  be- 
tween whiles  visited  the  hospitals  throughout  the  district  to 
distribute  comforts  and  cheerfulness. 

The  smaller  American  camps  in  the  Winchester  area,  oc- 
cupied by  training  and  repair  squadrons  of  the  air  force, 
were  in  the  open  country  of  Salisbury  Plain  and  here  the 
first  work  of  the  Red  Cross  was  the  establishment  and 
equipment  of  camp  dispensaries  and  infirmaries  to  obviate 
the  necessity  of  sending  sick  or  injured  men  miles  away  in 
British  motor  lorries  to  the  nearest  hospitals,  which,  by  the 
way,  were  British.  So  these  institutions  were  set  up  in 
marquee  tents,  two  to  a  post,  to  be  replaced  by  portable 
wooden  huts  each  twenty-five  by  fifty  feet  in  size  for  win- 
ter use,  but  these  had  been  installed  in  only  two  camps 
when  the  Armistice  brought  further  effort  to  an  end.  As 
long  hours  of  manual  labor  in  isolated  places,  with  the  ex- 
citement of  warfare  lacking,  seemed  likely  to  bring  about 
discontent  and  consequent  inefficiency,  the  Red  Cross  de- 
voted much  attention  to  supplying  recreation  and  amuse- 
ment to  the  squadrons.  In  every  camp,  tents  orxbarrack 
huts  were  erected  and  fitted  with  pianos,  gramophones, 
games,  newspapers  and  magazines;  orchestras  were  organ- 
ized, with  instruments  given  by  the  Red  Cross ;  dances 
were  given  in  the  nearest  towns  and  interest  in  baseball 
was  stimulated  by  the  provision  of  uniforms  and  equipment 
and  the  arrangement  of  inter-camp  matches.  For  the 
comfort  of  the  men,  the  Red  Cross  had  eighty-one  different 
articles,  from  sweaters  to  razor-blades,  in  its  storehouses 
and  these  were  distributed  by  the  thousand  at  the  posts. 

"  You  have  filled  our  coffers  with  all  the  needed  articles 
for  comfort  and  health,"  wrote  the  commanding  officer  of 
the  Yatesbury  Camp.  "  You  have  given  us  an  American 
flag  to  float  over  our  camp  and  a  bugle  to  awaken  our  boys 


112  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

to  the  chilly  blasts  of  Yatesbury.  Please  accept  our  thanks 
for  these  many  favors  and  rest  assured  that  it  is  our  inten- 
tion to  call  upon  you  freely  for  anything  we  need,  knowing 
that  we  will  not  be  denied." 

Flowerdown  Camp  was  taken  over  by  the  American 
Army  as  an  aero-squadron  rest  camp  in  May,  1918,  and  the 
initial  request  made  of  the  Keel  Cross  here  was  the  pro- 
vision of  bathing  facilities  for  the  men.  A  large  building 
was  completed  in  about  a  month,  serving  both  enlisted  men 
and  officers  and  nothing  in  the  camp  was  more  appreciated. 
While  the  construction  of  the  bath  house  wras  under  way, 
the  Red  Cross  also  transformed  a  dilapidated  barracks  into 
a  clean  and  attractive  recreation  center  and  mess  for  the 
officers.  Similar  rooms  were  equipped  for  the  men  and 
there  was  not  a  happier  camp  on  the  Plain.  A  band  was 
provided  with  instruments  and  concerts  were  given  every 
night,  whether  a  man  liked  music  or  not,  and  after  four 
months'  occupation  Flowerdown  was  evacuated,  but  men 
from  there  have  given  the  assurance  that  the  band  had  noth- 
ing to  do  with  it. 

Red  Cross  work  among  the  other  camps  of  the  zone  was 
of  like  character  and  was  constant  from  the  beginning  of 
their  occupancy  until  the  last  man  was  out  and  on  his  way 
home. 

In  that  time  not  less  than  600,000  American  soldiers 
passed  through  the  Winchester  area.  The  supplies,  medi- 
cal, personal,  and  foodstuffs,  furnished  them  by  the  Red 
Cross  were  measurable  in  thousands  of  tons.  Among  the 
comfort  articles  distributed  may  be  noted  (for  those  who 
like  figures)  20,000  towels,  30,000  tubes  of  tooth  paste, 
10,000  shaving  brushes,  9,000  pairs  of  socks,  9,000  u  com- 
fort bags,77  9,000  handkerchiefs,  8,500  sweaters,  7,500 
razors,  8,000  cakes  of  soap,  95,000  packages  of  chocolate, 
2,500,000  cigarettes,  40,000  packages  of  tobacco,  and  6,000 
pipes. 


CHAPTER  VI 

WHERE    A    MILLION    MEN    WE-NT    BY 

IT  was  in  the  south  of  England  that  American  military 
activity  was  concentrated  as  nowhere  else  in  Great 

»/ 

Britain.  It  was  practically  centered  there.  When  mili- 
tary exigence  necessitated  the  passage  of  a  gigantic  Ameri- 
can Army  through  England  it  was  in  the  south  that  it  estab- 
lished most  of  its  camps  and  the  largest  of  them,  eighteen  in 
all.  There,  too,  was  undertaken  its  mos-t  extensive  hos- 
pitalization.  Although  the  American  troopships  poured 
their  legions  into  Liverpool  and  Glasgow  in  the  north,  as 
well  as  into  London,  Plymouth  and  Southampton,  it  was 
in  the  south  that  they  were  massed  -  -  a  million  men  were 
encamped  there  at  various  times  during  1918  —  and  from 
the  south  that  they  flowed  out  again  toward  France  and 
the  battle  front.  From  Southampton  alone,  more  than 
913,000  American  soldiers  embarked  for  the  voyage  across 
the  Channel. 

Thus  it  was  expedient,  for  reasons  of  concentration  and 
transport,  that  the  south  should  be  selected  by  the  Ameri- 
can militarv  authorities  for  the  mobilization  of  their  forces. 

t/ 

The  less  rigorous  climate  of  that  section  was,  also,  best 
suited  for  base  hospital  purposes.  And,  as  an  added  ad- 
vantage there  were  wide  camp  spaces  in  that  part  of  Eng- 
land which  had  already  been  used  by  the  British  and  were 
available  for  American  occupation. 

This  zone  of  chief  activity  naturally  included  Southamp- 
ton and,  embracing  the  regions  lying  all  about  it,  comprised 
practically  all  the  territories  of  the  counties  of  Berkshire, 
Wiltshire,  Hampshire,  Somerset,  Devon  and  Dorset,  even 
to  far  Cornwall.  It  took  in  historic  Salisbury  Plain  on 

«/ 

which  u  Kitchener's  Army  '    was  gathered  and  trained  in 

113 


114  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

the  early  years  of  the  war  and  where,  in  time,  were  located 
not  less  than  ten  supplemental  American  camps  for  aero 
schooling  and  repair  squadrons. 

In  this  great  area  lay  the  first  camp  to  be  taken  over  from 
the  British  by  the  American  Army.  It  was  on  the  broad 
rolling  elevation  of  Morn  Hill  —  Winnal  Downs,  the 
British  called  it  -  -  about  two  miles  from  the  famed  cathe- 
dral city  of  Winchester.  It  passed  into  American  control 
in  November,  1917,  and  from  that  moment  became  the  most 
important  camp  on  the  United  States  Army  map  of  Great 
Britain.  Three  quarters  of  the  total  number  of  American 
soldiers  who  were  landed  in  England  passed  through  Morn 
Hill.  And  Winchester,  only  two  miles  away  in  this  his- 
toric instance,  became  the  center  for  the  American  Expedi- 
tionary Forces  on  their  way  to  France. 

There  was  a  singular  fitness  in  the  chance  that  made 
Winchester  a  focal  point.  From  the  earliest  days  of  re- 
corded history  it  had  possessed  military  importance.  It 
was  the  seat  of  government  for  the  Britons,  the  Celts,  the 
Komans,  the  Saxons,  the  Danes  and  the  Normans.  For 
centuries  it  was  the  capital  city  of  Britain  and  even  after 
London  became  the  capital  in  the  thirteenth  century,  it  was 
still  a  popular  place  of  residence  of  many  of  the  English 
Kings.  Charles  the  Second  and  his  dissolute  court  held 
revels  there,  the  dwelling  place  of  Nell  Gwynne,  con- 
veniently located  for  her  royal  patron,  being  still  in  exist- 
ence. The  cathedral  of  Winchester,  dating  back  to  the 
year  640,  is  held  to  be  one  of  the  finest  in  the  British  Isles 
and  there  are  laid  the  remains  of  King  Alfred  and  many 
other  Saxon  Kings  and  also  of  humbler  Izaak  Walton.  At 
the  opening  of  the  war  it  was  a  garrison  city  and  the  camps 
the  British  built  about  it  in  1914  were  on  land  which  had 
been  leased  for  ten  years  by  Lord  Kitchener.  These  were 
the  convenient  and  already  laid-out  areas  which  the  British 
authorities  gave  over  to  the  American  Army. 

The  buildings  at  Morn  Hill,  and  in  the  other  camps 
similarly  acquired,  were  mostly  of  steel  framework  covered 


WHERE  A  MILLION  MEN  WENT  BY  115 

with  corrugated  iron.  To  supplement  them,  hutments  of 
wood  and  large  encampments  of  tents  were  constructed  and 
hospitals,  banks,  telegraph  offices,  bath  houses,  garages  and 
repair  shops  were  gradually  installed  by  the  American 
forces,  which  also  set  aside  ample  reservations  for  baseball, 
football  and  tennis.  Normally  the  capacity  of  the  camp 
was  7,500,  but  during  the  months  in  which  American  over- 
sea transportation  reached  its  astounding  maximum,  it  ac- 
commodated at  times,  not  less  than  12,000,  so  incessantly 
did  the  special  trains  arrive  from  the  debarkation  ports. 

To  aid  the  American  military  authorities  in  their  for- 
midable and  ever-growing  task,  the  Red  Cross  had  estab- 
lished bases  at  Southampton  and  Winchester,  because  the 
importance  of  this  southern  area  to  the  Red  Cross  was  as 
great  as  to  the  army.  As  soon  as  Morn  Hill  passed  into 
American  hands  and  Winchester  became  the  headquarters 
of  the  Southern  Army  Command,  an  appeal  was  made  to 
the  Red  Cross  for  its  needed  and  welcomed  assistance,  with 
the  result  that  every  phase  of  Red  Cross  activity  wras  under- 
taken, from  fundamental  hospital  service  to  the  work  of 
numerous  administration  bureaus. 

Hospital  service  dealt  with  the  men  sent  to  the  two  sec- 
tions of  Morn  Hill  Hospital  which  had  a  normal  capacity 
of  600  patients  although  in  cases  of  emergency  this  could 
be  increased  to  about  800.  The  number  of  occupants,  how- 
ever, varied  with  the  general  health  of  the  camp,  being  as 
low  sometimes  as  100  and,  at  others,  rising  above  600  as 
during  the  influenza  epidemic  of  the  autumn  of  1918  when 
670  beds  were  required.  During  the  year  a  total  of  5,424 
patients  were  attended,  which  exceeds  the  number  of  ad- 
mittances to  any  other  American  hospital  in  Great  Britain. 
This  hospital  was  repaired  throughout  by  the  Red  Cross, 
the  floors  were  covered  with  Red  Cross  linoleum  and  large 
quantities  of  hospital  equipment  came  from  the  Red  Cross 
warehouse,  or  were  purchased  by  the  Red  Cross  on  request 
of  the  Commanding  Officer. 

Both  sections  of  the  hospital  were  visited  daily  by  the 


116  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

Red  Cross  supply  officers  and  Home  Communication  officers 
and  there  was  no  hospital  in  Great  Britain  where  the  Red 
Cross  was  so  accessible  or  so  well  equipped  to  respond  to 
every  appeal.  The  men's  quarters  of  the  hospital  unit,  the 
enlisted  men's  recreation  rooms  and  the  patients'  dining 
room,  were  all  either  partly  or  wholly  furnished  and  dec- 
orated by  the  Red  Cross.  A  substantial  brick  building  was 
erected  and  equipped  for  the  use  of  the  officers  as  club 
quarters,  the  rooms  including  a  lounge  large  enough  for  en- 
tertainments and  moving  picture  shows,  three  dining  halls 
and  various  writing  and  recreation  rooms.  This  building 
was  always  used  on  semi-public  occasions  when  it  was 
essential  that  a  suitable  place  be  found  for  the  reception  and 
entertainment  of  special  guests.  Recreation  quarters  were 
also  furnished  for  the  enlisted  men  and  non-commissioned 
officers  and  several  bands  were  outfitted  for  the  entertain- 
ment of  the  troops.  A  large  canteen  station  was  completed 
towards  the  end  of  the  year,  but  unfortunately,  too  late  to 
be  of  great  service  to  the  troops. 

One  of  the  Red  Cross  huts  at  Morn  Hill  became  gen- 
erally known  as  "  Bissell  Hut "  and  the  origin  of  the  name 
is  an  interesting  side-light  on  how  closely  the  Red  Cross 
worked  with  and  for  the  army.  Early  in  the  year  a  casual 
detachment  of  American  troops  under  a  Lieutenant  Bissell 
came  into  the  camp.  Lieutenant  Bissell  had  seen  the  Red 
Cross  at  work  in  the  cantonments  in  America  and  took  a 
great  interest  in  the  work  at  Morn  Hill.  Largely  through 
his  initiative  the  Red  Cross  took  over  one  of  the  army  hut- 
ments and  fitted  it  up  as  a  club-room,  installing  easy  chairs, 
pictures,  writing  tables,  nags,  a  piano,  gramophone  and 
various  other  musical  instruments.  As  soon  as  the  hut  was 
ready  it  was  turned  over  to  the  men  and  treated  as  their 
property,  the  Red  Cross  exercising  no  further  supervision 
except  to  replace  needed  articles  of  furniture  and  to  see  that 
any  necessary  supplies  were  provided.  In  this  way,  the 
men  acquired  a  sense  of  ownership  and  looked  upon  it  as 
their  club,  manifesting  their  possession  by  christening  it, 


WHERE  A  MILLION  MEN  WENT  BY  117 

with  all  formalities,  the  "  Bissell  Club,"  and  the  number  of 
men  who  enjoyed  its  hospitality  and  knew  it  only  under 
this  name,  runs  into  many  thousands. 

A  short  time  later,  a  similar  club  was  installed  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Morn  Hill  camp,  and  still  later  a  third 
self-governing  institution  wTas  fitted  out  for  the  men  of  the 
Motor  Transport  Company,  a  fourth  for  the  hospital  per- 
sonnel, and  a  fifth  for  the  Headquarters  Staff  orderlies. 
Through  these  huts  the  Red  Cross  came  to  represent 
"  Home  "  to  thousands  of  men,  not  only  those  merely  pass- 
ing through  Winchester  but  also  those  of  the  permanent 
staff  stationed  there. 

There  was  a  great  deal  of  day-to-day  work  in  a  camp  like 
Morn  Hill,  where  thousands  of  new  soldiers  were  constantly 
arriving  and  thousands  of  others  being  dispatched  almost 
daily  to  France.  Whether  the  troops  were  incoming  or  out- 
going, there  were  many  things  which  they  needed  and  the 
Red  Cross  supply  office  was  always  open  and  ready  to  re- 
spond to  any  request  endorsed  by  the  commanding  officer 
of  a  detachment.  In  a  single  afternoon,  for  instance,  more 
than  1,500  articles  were  distributed  on  requests  of  this 
kind,  the  articles  varying  from  comfort  kits  to  sweaters  and 
woolen  helmets. 

But  the  troops  arriving  at  Winchester  were  not  merely 

men  fresh  from  America.     Many  of  them  were  "  casuals,' 

•j 

either  on  detached  service  or  just  discharged  from  British 
hospitals  and  sent  there  convalescent  for  a  few  days'  rest 
until  they  could  rejoin  their  units.  In  many  cases  the 
needs  of  these  were  manifold,  and  the  Red  Cross  was  fre- 
quently called  upon  to  re-outfit  them,  almost  from  head  to 
foot. 

The  system  adopted  in  supplying  these  soldiers  was  to 
have  the  non-commissioned  officer  in  charge  of  each  hut 
make  out  a  list  stating  the  requirements  of  the  men  under 
his  care.  This  list  was  then  sent  to  the  Red  Cross  supply 
hut,  the  articles  drawn  and  distributed,  making  it  possible 
thus  to  avoid  not  only  the  issue  of  unnecessary  articles,  but 


118  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

to    care    thoroughly    for   the    actual    needs    of   the   men. 

The  medical  hut  for  the  "  casual  camp  "  was  adjacent  to 
the  Ked  Cross  supply  hut,  and  it  made  constant  requests 
for  articles  which  could  not  be  readily  supplied  from  the 
quartermaster's  stores,  such  as  canes  for  crippled  men, 
special  bandages,  special  braces  and  slings  and  a  number  of 
things  which  the  Red  Cross  could  either  obtain  locally  at 
Winchester,  or  secure  promptly  on  telegraphic  request  from 
London. 

At  one  time,  when  the  Casual  Camp  was  crowded,  there 
was  a  very  heavy  demand  for  sweaters.  Unfortunately, 
the  supply  was  very  meager  at  the  time  and  remained  so 
for  a  long  period,  therefore  a  special  formula  was  adopted 
for  the  issue  of  these  garments.  All  men  who  requested 
them  were  lined  up  at  the  supply  hut ;  then  the  Red  Cross 
officer  in  charge  would  explain  the  situation, —  that  the 
supply  was  limited  owing  to  the  shortage  of  wool,  and  it 
was  desired  that,  so  far  as  possible,  sweaters  should  be  sup- 
plied only  to  convalescent  men,  or  to  those  whose  need  was 
very  great;  if  any  man  in  the  line  thought  he  could  do 
without  a  sweater  he  would  be  leaving  it  for  a  man  fresh 
from  hospital.  It  was  most  gratifying  to  see  the  number 
of  men  who  would  drop  out  of  the  line  with  a  good-natured 
smile  and  a  good-humored  exclamation,  "  Well,  I  need  it 
but  not  so  badly  as  that ;  let  the  other  fellow  have  it !  ' 

On  April  1,1919,  the  II.  S.  Army  formally  evacuated  this 
great  camp  which  was  returned  to  the  service  of  British 
troops  —  all  British,  that  is,  save  "  The  Clubmen  of  Morn 
Hill." 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE    INCOMING    LEGIONS    AT    LIVERPOOL 

THE  story  of  the  American  Red  Cross  at  Liverpool  and 
in  the  regions  of  immediate  war-relationship,  is  the 
story  of  practically  every  activity  which  engaged  this  great 
organization  in  behalf  of  the  American  soldier  in  Great 
Britain.  Here  it  constructed  the  first  hospital  to  be  built 
in  the  Kingdom  for  .American  troops  —  Mossley  Hill. 
Here,  the  chief  debarkation  port  in  Britain,  it  met  and 
ministered,  in  one  way  or  another,  to  more  than  three- 
quarters  of  a  million  soldiers  coming  from  the  United 
States,  as  many  as  20,000  in  a  single  convoy.  Here  it  fed 
them  as  they  landed  and  bore  the  sick  to  hospital.  Here 
it  distributed  thousands  of  tons  of  supplies  —  -  one  of  its 
warehouses  alone  held  3,000  tons  of  foodstuffs  and  in  a 
second  was  stored  an  equal  amount  of  other  distributable 
commodities,  including  nearly  100  portable  huts  for  hospi- 
tal emergency  needs.  Here,  in  one  working  day,  it  gave 
Red  Cross  cheer  to  more  than  fortv  thousand  American 

mJ 

troops  on  their  way  to  the  south  of  England.  Here  it 
rendered  its  service  in  hospital,  camp  and  post,  in  club  and 
recreation  center  and  this  to  its  widest  capacity,  extend- 
ing it  even  to  Birmingham,  Leicester  and  Derby  for 
troops  on  their  way  to  the  south  of  England.  Here  it 
gathered  the  new-wed  wives  of  the  homing  soldiers  and 
sailors,  shepherded  them,  even  provided  them  with  funds 
for  the  voyage  to  their  new  country.  And  here,  too,  it 
greeted  and  cared  for  the  thousands  of  sick  and  wounded 
west-bound  on  the  hospital  ships. 

It  may  truthfully  be  said  that  the  Red  Cross  never 
knew  an  idle  hour  in  the  Liverpool  area.  Its  day  often  be- 
gan at  5  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  lasted  until  two  or  three 

119 


120  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

hours  after  midnight  and  required  the  services  of  more  than 
fifty  workers. 

So  tremendous  and  persistent  was  the  inflow  of  American 
troops  at  Liverpool  that,  naturally,  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant stations  of  the  Red  Cross  was  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
debarkation  docks.  But  the  business  of  meeting  and  can- 
teening  a  convoy  was  complicated  by  landing  conditions  at 
the  port.  The  tides  always  play  a  large  part  in  the  dock- 
ing of  ships  at  Liverpool,  for  there  is  a  difference  of  twenty- 
three  feet  between  high  and  low  tide  in  the  Mersey.  Ships 
can  cross  the  bar  and  come  to  berth  only  at  certain  hours 
and  certain  points.  The  various  ships  of  an  American  con- 
voy, carrying  from  8,000  to  20,000  troops,  might  land  at 
any  one  of  ten  docks  over  a  stretch  of  five  miles,  and  there 
were  three  main  railway  stations  at  which  they  were  en- 
trained for  the  south.  Moreover,  it  was  always  necessary 
to  be  prepared  for  every  sort  of  sudden  alteration  in  train 
schedule.  The  9  :30  train,  for  instance,  might  be  trans- 
ferred without  notice  from  the  Central  Station  to  the  Ex- 
change Station ;  then,  the  canteen  service  assigned  to  that 
train,  with  its  load  of  coffee,  biscuits,  chocolate  and 
cigarettes,  must  be  as  abruptly  shifted.  Or,  perhaps  a 
message  would  come :  "  We  are  putting  on  an  extra  train 
at  the  Central/7  when  seventy  gallons  of  extra  coffee  and 
all  its  accompaniments  must  be  dispatched  thither  at  this 
instant  notice.  The  canteen  service  had  also  to  be  prepared 
for  delays  in  train  schedules,  for  advances  in  departure 
times,  for  even  the  complete  abandonment  of  all  schedules. 
It  was  impossible  to  know  what  the  next  minute  might 
bring  forth. 

Then,  too,  there  was  always  something  of  emergency  re- 
lief to  be  provided,  for  the  transports  never  came  in  with- 
out bringing  some  kind  of  an  "  emergency  '  with  them. 
But  the  Red  Cross  was  able  to  take  time  by  the  forelock  in 
such  instances.  Before  a  transport  was  permitted  to  dock 
it  was  required  to  pass  inspection  by  the  army  medical  or 
quarantine  officers.  The  Red  Cross  arranged  to  have  a  car 


THE  INCOMING  LEGIONS  AT  LIVERPOOL      121 

at  the  service  of  the  British  medical  officer  charged  with 
this  duty  and  he  was  always  accompanied  aboard  ship  by 
one  or  more  American  Red  Cross  representatives  who  con- 
ferred at  once  with  the  commanding  and  medical  officers  of 
the  ship  to  learn  what  kind  of  special  aid  was  needed.  In 
this  way  the  Red  Cross  was  frequently  able  to  supply  emer- 
gency relief  for  incoming  transports  without  the  slightest 
loss  of  time,  to  have  it  under  way,  in  fact,  within  a  moment 
after  the  Red  Cross  people  came  ashore,  which  was  wTell 
in  advance  of  the  military  debarkation.  There  was, 
fortunately,  no  such  secrecy  about  arriving  ships  at  Liver- 
pool as  at  Royal  Albert  and  Tilbury  Docks  below  London, 
so  the  Red  Cross  had  time  to  make  preparations. 

Troop  convoys  rarely  exceeded  20,000  men,  but  the  Red 
Cross  was  equipped  to  handle  as  many  as  30,000.  At  five 
o'clock  in  the  morning  the  Red  Cross  "  coffee  factory  "  and 
kitchen  at  Bootle,  a  suburb  of  Liverpool,  was  opened  and 
the  steaming  beverage  was  ready  to  be  loaded  into  the  can- 
teen lorries  at  the  rate  of  360  gallons  an  hour.  This 
would  provide  for  3,600  men  in  that  space  of  time,  the  Eng- 
lish gallon,  which  is  twenty-five  per  cent  larger  than  the 
American  measure,  being  used  and  100  gallons  being 
reckoned  as  sufficient  for  1,000  soldiers.  It  was  necessary 
to  have  the  coffee  not  only  hot  —  the  insulated  containers 
attended  to  that  —  but  it  must  be,  above  all  things,  on  time, 
for  troops  headed  toward  the  battlefields  of  France  were 
moved  on  a  time-table  which  gave  few  spare  moments,  and 
very  often  the  canteen  service  had  to  be  wedged  in  between 
the  entraining  of  the  men  and  the  departure  of  their  trains. 
Sometimes  this  interval  did  not  exceed  five  minutes,  some- 
tides  it  extended  over  nearly  half  an  hour,  but  never  more 
than  that,  so  the  number  of  men  served  depended,  in  part, 
upon  the  manual  dexterity  of  the  Red  Cross  workers  and  in 
part  upon  the  time  a  soldier  required  to  gulp  a  cup  of  piping 
coffee  and  consume  a  big,  fat  bun  or  a  thick  sandwich. 

The  canteen  equipment  provided  for  the  serving  of  coffee 
consisted  of  large,  wheeled  "  tanks,"  each  of  which  carried 


122  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

eighty  gallons  of  the  brew  and  also  a  large  supply  of  cups, 
buns,  sandwiches,  chocolate  and  the  like.  To  serve  a  troop- 
train  of  nineteen  or  twenty  coaches  providing  a  seating 
capacity  of  760  men  —  five  compartments  to  a  coach  with 
eight  men  in  a  compartment  —  required  a  force  of  not  less 
than  fifteen  Eed  Cross  workers.  Eor  a  long  period  during 
the  middle  and  latter  part  of  the  year  1918,  the  number  of 
incoming  ships  averaged  more  than  two  a  day  and  the  num- 
ber of  men  thus  served  was  about  4,000  a  day.  When  a 
large  convoy  arrived,  the  entire  staff  of  the  Liverpool  office 
was  diverted  directly  to  the  work  of  the  canteen  depart- 
ment. 

For  the  distribution  of  food  to  men  at  the  docks  them- 
selves, the  Ked  Cross  had  a  large  "  Riverside  Station  ' 
where  more  than  2,000  gallons  of  coffee  a  day  could  be  pre- 
pared and  thousands  of  buns  and  sandwiches  made  ready 
for  the  hungry.  The  station  got  its  name  from  the  fact 
that  its  rear  wall  was  the  brick  side  of  the  Riverside  Station 
of  the  London  and  Northwestern  Railway,  the  remainder 
of  it  being  a  wooden  structure,  well  lighted  and  decorated 
and  dignified  with  a  tall  pole  bearing  the  American  flag 
to  catch  the  eye  of  every  soldier  on  an  incoming  troopship. 

The  personnel  of  the  Liverpool  canteen  service  was 
unique,  consisting  of  young  and  old,  men  and  women,  Eng- 
lish, French,  Scotch,  Irish  as  well  as  American,  all  work- 
ing together  in  perfect  happiness  and  forming  friendships 
which  will  outlive  the  war.  Because  England  had  been  in 
the  conflict  for  a  long  time  and  almost  every  man  and 
woman  in  the  country  had  many  kinds  of  war  work  to  do, 
the  volunteers  at  the  canteen  were  not  the  same  every  day ; 
they  could  give  only  a  day  or  two  a  week  to  this  task.  But 
they  worked  with  a  will  and  tirelessly  while  they  were  at 
it.  And  nobody  save  a  canteen  worker  who  has  been  on 
duty  at  the  Liverpool  docks  realizes  how  much  coffee  and 
"  grub '  a  shipload  of  American  soldiers  can  stow  away 
when  it  is  served  on  dry  land  after  they  have  been  at  sea 
so  many  days,  when  it  is  served  by  the  first  American 


THE  INCOMING  LEGIONS  AT  LIVERPOOL      123 

woman  they've  seen  for  a  fortnight,  when  it  comes  as  a  sort 
of  "  touch  of  home  '  in  the  midst  of  surroundings  which 
are  all  strange  and  foreign. 

During  the  influenza  epidemic  the  service  was  extended 
to  include  hot  soups  for  all  the  arriving  troops.  Fre- 
quently the  workers  heated  pans  of  "  Mulligan  stew  '  fcr 
baggage  details  and  stretcher  bearers,  and  it  was  not  at  all 
unusual  to  receive  an  emergency  call  at  almost  any  hour, 
day  or  night,  for  supplies  for  200  or  300  men  at  work  in 
some  remote  corner  of  the  vast  docks.  The  canteening  of 
homeward-bound  convoys  was  a  work  requiring  especial  at- 
tention, for  these  men  were  served  not  only  with  coffee  and 
food  but  with  various  garments,  blankets,  comfort  kits, 
medicines  and  any  other  needful  supplies. 

For  first-aid  use  at  the  docks  the  Red  Cross  established 
a  small  hospital  hut  with  cots,  chairs  and  a  trained  nurse 
in  attendance.  The  front  of  this  hut  was  fitted  with  long 
shelves  which  were  used  by  the  incoming  troops  as  desks  on 
which  to  write  post  cards,  these  being  immediately  mailed 
home  by  the  Red  Cross.  Though  the  latter  was  not 
officially  designated  to  handle  soldiers'  mail,  the  canteen 
workers  never  failed  to  collect  great  numbers  of  letters  and 
post  cards  from  every  arriving  detachment.  The  post  cards, 
for  which  there  was  a  constant  demand,  were  supplied  by 
the  Red  Cross.  One  of  the  most  popular  of  these  had  its 
message  already  printed  so  that  the  soldier  had  merely  to 
sign  his  name  and  write  the  address  on  the  reverse  side. 
These  were  sent  off  by  thousands  and  read : 

Somewhere  in  England 

Well,  here  I  am,  safe  and  sound  and  feeling  mighty  fine. 
Hope  this  finds  all  of  you  the  same.  Will  write  a  real  letter 
the  first  chance  I  get.  Best  regards  and  lots  of  love  to  all. 

In  haste 


Numbers  of  the  men  sent  cablegrams  home  and  these  too 
the  Eed  Cross  transmitted.     The  worker  who  supervised 


124  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

this  happy  job  said  that  there  was  one  message  which  would 
always  remain  in  his  memory.     It  was : 

Arrived  safe.     Cannot  live  without  you.     Will  you  marry  me? 
Home  for  Christmas. 

"  It  was  in  September  that  the  boy  sent  that,"  he  ex- 
plained, "  and  I've  often  wondered  whether  the  fellow 
really  got  home  for  Christmas,  and  whether  the  wedding 
occurred.  Let's  hope  so.  The  girl  knows,  at  any  rate." 

One  of  the  first  steps  toward  making  the  newcomers  feel 
at  home,  however  short  their  stay  in  England,  was  the  pres- 
entation to  each  of  a  copy  of  the  "  King's  Message  of  Wel- 
come," distributed  by  British  soldiers  who  worked  side  by 
side  with  the  American  Red  Cross  men.  At  the  same  time 
the  latter  placed  in  each  train  compartment  a  copy  of  the 
Red  Cross  Daily  Bulletin,  with  its  budget  of  home  news, 
and  a  quantity  of  magazines  and  daily  papers  contributed 
for  the  purpose  by  the  British  Red  Cross,  the  Liverpool 
Civic  League,  and  the  newspaper  publishers  of  the  city. 

The  Liverpool  canteen  did  not  limit  its  service  to  Ameri- 
can troops,  although  they  naturally  came  first,  but  fre- 
quently put  itself  at  the  disposal  of  Allied  soldiers  of  many 
nationalities  who,  for  some  reason  or  other,  were  debarked 
or  embarked  at  Liverpool.  One  emergency  call  shortly  be- 
fore the  Armistice  was  signed  involved  serving  2,000  Can- 
adians and  500  Australians. 

Now  and  then  great  hospital  ships  sailed  away  from  the 
port  for  the  States  with  hundreds  of  sick  and  wounded 
aboard,  and  these  were  well  and  carefully  served  by  the 
Red  Cross.  And  many  times  these  days  yielded  their 
dramatic  fragments.  Here  is  one  in  the  words  of  a  canteen 
worker,  Miss  Willetta  Llayden,  of  California,  who  did 
valiant  service  at  Liverpool. 

"  We  have  seen  no  less  than  six  ships  slip  into  the 
Mersey  with  boys  of  ours  who  have  paid  war  a  bitter  price. 
And  we  have  had  the  pleasure  of  extending  our  hospitality 
to  the  Canadians  and  the  Australians,  war-weary  men  who 


THE  INCOMING  LEGIONS  AT  LIVERPOOL      125 

showed  by  their  tired  faces  how  much  longer  they  had 
served  than  we.  But  of  all  the  ships  there  is  one  that 
stands  out,  the  Leviathan,  that  greatest  of  the  Kaiser's 
ships,  which  sailed  on  December  3rd,  her  ballroom  shelter- 
ing the  shattered  bodies  of  the  men  who  helped  to  win  the 
war  against  him.  It  was  a  real  Liverpool  day ;  gray  skies 
and  cold  winds  and  the  rain  always  drip-drip-dripping  from, 
the  roof  of  the  warehouse  where  we  waited.  Each  canteen 
woman  had  about  her  a  circle  of  those  delightful  fellows  in 
blue  known  by  such  an  ill-sounding  name  -  - '  gobs.'  After 
an  endless  wait  the  ambulances  came.  Immediately  every 
worker  was  at  her  post.  Never  before  have  I  heard  such 
stillness.  Even  the  birds  that  had  been  chattering  all  the 
afternoon  over  the  grain-bags  stopped  their  noises  at  the 
approach  of  the  first  stretcher.  And  those  '  gobs  ' !  An 
American  woman  feels  terribly  helpless  when  she  sees  the 
tenderness  with  which  an  American  sailor  can  give  a  cup 
of  coffee  to  an  American  soldier  on  a  stretcher.  And  dur- 
ing that  afternoon  we  had  one  of  those  world-old  dramas 
of  brother  meeting  brother ;  the  sailor,  still  a  strong,  young- 
chap  and  feeling  something  like  a  slacker  as  he  bent  over 
the  stretcher  of  the  soldier  brother,  whose  blanket  lay  so 
pitifully  flat  below  the  line  of  the  knee.  Not  one  word 
from  the  soldier,  only  a  glad  smile,  and  from  the  sailor: 
You  wrote  us  all  the  time  that  you  were  safe  doing  cleri- 
cal work  in  southern  France/ 

On  the  outskirts  of  Liverpool  was  the  great  American 
rest  camp,  Knotty  Ash,  with  accommodations  for  15,000 
troops  and  an  attached  personnel  of  1,800.  Through  this 
the  soldiers  were  constantly  flowing;  they  remained  a  few 
days  after  coming  ashore  then  hastened  away  to  Winchester 
and  Southampton  and  so  to  Erance.  Here  were  two  huge 
Red  Cross  warehouses  in  the  very  center  of  the  camp,  ready 
to  supply  any  need.  There  was  a  camp  hospital  here,  too, 
for  the  casual  cases  of  sickness  and  accident  which  de- 
veloped among  the  constantly  changing  inhabitants  of  the 
reservation.  At  first  this  hospital  was  composed  entirely 


126  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

of  tents,  but  early  in  the  summer  the  army  began  the  con- 
struction of  huts  and  at  the  time  of  the  influenza  epidemic 
the  majority  of  the  patients  was  comfortably  housed  under 
wooden  roofs.  The  capacity  of  the  institution  grew  from 
250  beds  to  500  and  during  the  latter  months  of  the  year 
was  seldom  without  at  least  400  patients.  The  Red  Cross 
began  work  at  the  rest  camp  almost  simultaneously  with  the 
army  and  among  the  articles  it  furnished  were  laboratory 
supplies,  surgical  instruments,  drugs,  refrigerators  and 
musical  instruments.  Most  of  the  motor  transport  for  the 
hospital  also  came  from  the  Red  Cross,  its  donations  being 
sixteen  ambulances,  three  convertible  trucks,  four  motor 
vans,  a  touring  car  and  a  side-car  motorcycle,  with  sev- 
eral cases  of  motor  parts  for  all  the  machines.  The  nurses' 
home  at  Knotty  Ash  and  the  medical  officers'  quarters  were 
also  equipped,  as  was  the  recreation  hut.  And  not  very 
far  from  this  hospital  was  Mossley  Hill,  the  institution 
which  the  Red  Cross  had  so  amazingly  built  when  the  army 
made  its  first  appeal  for  hospitalization. 

So  much  has  always  been  said  and  written  about  the 

t/ 

amounts  of  things  which  the  Red  Cross  has  disbursed  to 
hospitals,  to  soldiers  and  sailors  oversea,  that  an  occasional 
turn  aside  to  the  spirit  of  the  work  is  frankly  irresistible. 
And  the  writer,  in  all  his  talks  with  workers,  in  all  the 
archives  to  which  he  has  had  access,  has  come  upon  nothing 
finer  than  this  bit  of  reminiscence,  disguised  as  a  "  canteen 
worker's  report,"  by  the  same  Miss  Willetta  Hayden,  who 
served  on  the  Liverpool  docks,  which  relates  the  spirit  of 
service,  first  at  Knotty  Ash  and  then  at  Mossley  Hill : 

"  All  day  and  every  day  we  served  the  never-ending  line 
through  the  window  of  the  canteen.  In  the  afternoon 
coffee  and  some  kind  of  biscuit  or  sandwich  or  cake  were 
served  and  this  was  our  social  hour.  Every  one  came  and 
was  i  treated  '  free  of  charge  and,  in  the  ease  of  a  big  arm 
chair,  every  one  loitered  over  his  coffee  and  discussed  the 
Peace  Conference  and  the  great  battles  and  the  relative 
values  of  marines  and  '  gobs '  and  '  doughboys,'  and  every 


THE  INCOMING  LEGIONS  AT  LIVERPOOL      127 

one  wondered  about  sailings  and  if  his  name  would  be  on 
the  next  list. 

"  I  wonder  if  any  woman  knows  how  far  her  home 
reaches  into  the  world.  I  wonder  if  any  mother  can  ap- 
preciate how  well  we  know  her  by  the  glimpses  of  her  life 
through  the  boy  we  met  every  day  in  the  canteen,  and  how 
we  enjoyed  the  letters  that  told  of  the  new  records  for  the 
gramophone,  or  the  latest  saying  cf  her  grandson,  or  how 
fine  the  old  car  looked  in  its  new  coat  of  paint  that  Dad 
so  patiently  and  painfully  put  on  it '  after  hours  '  *and  Sun- 
days. 

"  In  the  evenings  were  the  movies.  Boys  still  nursing 
lame  arms  and  sensitive  shoulders  sought  the  easy  chairs 
near  the  fire;  boys  unable  to  walk  were  brought  by  their 
i  buddies  '  in  wheel-chairs.  Perched  high  on  apple  barrel 
or  chocolate  case,  over  their  smoke-wreathed  heads,  we 
watched  with  them  the  favorite  film  stars.  Often  the 
butcher  came  in  cap  and  apron  and  in  the  shadows  at  the 
edge  of  the  screen  delighted  himself  and  his  audience  at  the 
piano.  It  was  unstudied  to  the  last  degree.  I  still  hold 
a  memory  of  one  of  America's  favorites  doing  a  mad  gypsy 
dance  to  the  dignified  national  air  of  France ! 

"  How  the  little  glimpses  into  the  home-land  cheered  us ! 
A  train  pulling  over  the  Rockies ;  an  ocean  liner  with  the 
New  York  sky-line  or  the  Goddess  as  a  background  — 
either  was  sufficient  to  call  forth  the  wildest  cheers.  Such 
sport  it  was  to  '  kid '  the  pictures !  Screen  heroes  with 
whiskers  never  escaped  being  '  ba-a-a-ed '  no  matter  what 
their  dignity ;  the  arrival  of  any  animal  on  the  screen  was 
always  greeted  with  loud  and  various  interpretations  of  its 
peculiar  vocal  utterances.  If  the  operator  delayed  too  long 
or  not  long  enough,  vigorous  boyish  voices  called  forth 
merry  criticism  until  he  mended  his  ways. 

"  Then  one  day  the  long  awaited  list  came.  Practically 
every  name  was  on  it,  many  of  the  boys  to  go  home,  some  to 
go  disappointedly  to  France  and  a  few  to  stay  in  England  in 
another  hospital.  For  a  few  days  there  was  a  great  buzzing 


128  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

of  boys  getting  ready  to  sail.  Judging  from  the  shoe- 
strings and  shoe  polish  we  gave  out,  I  should  say  it  was  a 
well-shod  group  of  young  Americans  who  left  this  side  of 
the  Atlantic.  Next  came  the  day.  Ambulances  with  the 
stretcher  cases,  trucks  fairly  alive  with  waving  arms,  trucks 
piled  high  with  blanket  rolls  dropped  one  after  another 
over  the  green  hill  and  disappeared  along  the  highway. 
Very  glad  and  happy  they  were,  those  boys,  and  very  happy 
we  to  see  them  start  on  the  long-desired  journey,  but  feel- 
ing just  a  little  forlorn  with  it  all  as  though  some  of  our 
own  family  had  slipped  away.  And  then  we  too,  with  what 
remained  of  our  stores,  were  packed  into  gray  American 
trucks  and  taken  to  another  American  hospital. 

"  It  was  rather  staggering  to  try  and  evolve  a  system  of 
work  for  a  world  where  two  days  were  never  the  same  and 
where  nothing  ever  happened  a  second  time.  The  plan  was 
to  find  out  on  one  day  the  things  needed  and  to  get  them 
from  the  warehouse  and  deliver  them  to  the  boys  the  next 
day,  at  the  same  time  finding  out  what  was  still  needed. 
But  when  a  boy  feels  that  he  can  get  into  a  wheel  chair  to- 
day for  the  first  time  in  months,  no  human  being  could  say 
to  him,  '  I  have  no  dressing  gown  and  slippers  for  you  to- 
day, but  I'll  get  them  for  you  to-morrow/  I  throw  system 
to  the  winds  and  run  madly  for  the  dressing  gown  and 
slippers.  Or,  when  a  boy  comes  in  breathless  for  a  pair  of 
socks  because  he's  '  going  to  be  inspected  in  a  few  minutes  ' 
—  well,  the  socks  appear  without  another  word. 

"  It  takes  an  infinite  amount  of  time  to  go  from  bed  to 
bed,  get  the  boy's  name  and  an  idea  of  what  he  needs, 
listening  to  his  story  of  just  how  he  '  got  his/  listening 
with  unfeigned  interest  to  the  tales  cf  the  Front  and  of  his 
plans  for  the  future,  persuading  the  proud  or  timid  boy 
that  he  is  not  a  charity  patient  but  is  getting  only  what  he 
himself  or  his  father  or  mother  put  into  our  hands  to  deliver 
to  him  when  he  needed  it,  persuading  the  greedy  boy  that 
the  fact  of  his  aunt  having  given  a  Plymouth  Rock  hen  to 
be  raffled  at  the  Red  Cross  bazaar  at  Bingvillc  doesn't  en- 


THE  INCOMING  LEGIONS  AT  LIVERPOOL       120 

title  him  to  ten  safety  razors,  three  all-wool  sweaters  and  a 
bathrobe  that  will  become  his  peculiar  style  and  coloring, 
trying  to  understand  the  Italian-American  who  cannot 
order  anything  but  soap  without  an  interpreter,  but  who 
always  smiles  and  salutes  with  such  dignity  that  I  feel  like 
a  generalissimo,  smiling  over  the  foot  of  beds  where 
blankets  flatten  out  from  the  knee  line  downward  or  rise 
painfully  high  over  plaster  casts,  getting  orders  from  every- 
where and  taking  the  list  to  the  warehouse  over  half  a  mile 
of  roadway  that  is  never  dry  and  seeing  that  the  supplies 
are  delivered  by  trucks  that  are  always  overworked. 

"  Then,  piling  baskets  high  with  clothing  or  fruit  or 
cigarettes  and  taking  them  to  the  huts  or  carrying  them 
miles  along  the  corridors,  delivering  the  things,  or  try- 
ing to  find  the  boy  who  asked  for  this  or  that,  but  who  has 
been  transferred  to  another  ward.  It  is  so  endless !  But 
it  is  such  a  fine  thing  for  a  nation  to  do.  It's  a  fine  privi- 
lege for  a  woman  to  have,  to  put  into  the  hands  of  a  man 
who  has  given  as  much  as  he  could  give,  the  things  that  will 
make  him  comfortable  while  he  is  in  hospital.  It's  a  fine 
spirit  of  humanity,  a  true  brotherly  love  that  considers  no 
nationality  but  gives  to  all  alike  the  comforts  they  need. 

"  Days  just  before  sailing  are  such  wonderful  days ! 
There  are  so  many  things  that  must  be  done,  so  many  that 
cannot  be  done  until  the  very  last  minute,  such  mountains 
of  baggage  to  be  sorted  and  tagged  and  transferred  by  the 
orderlies  from  the  wards  to  the  ambulances,  such  endless 
lines  of  stretchers,  so  many  crutches  and  canes,  and  always 
the  gay  little  cretonne  comfort  bags  against  the  drab  of  the 
khaki. 

"  Always  there  is  the  feeling  of  fine  pride  in  our  hearts 
that  our  Nation  so  considers  her  sick  and  wounded  soldiers  ; 
always  there  is  a  little  anxious  feeling  that  things  may  not 
be  just  as  the  boys  left  them  in  homes  from  which  they  have 
not  heard  for  months ;  and  always  the  little  feeling  of  regret 
that  we  shall  see  them  no  more,  as  when  some  friend  has 
gone  away.  For  we  grow  very  close  together  here  in  this 


130  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

life  of  ours.  There  is  an  honest  pain  in  my  heart  when  I 
am  writing  down  a  long  list  of  things  that  Brown  wants 
for  his  trip  across  the  Atlantic  and  I  look  into  his  eyes  and 
know  what  he  has  not  yet  even  suspected  —  that  Brown  is 
going  on  a  much  greater  adventure  than  crossing  the  Atlan- 
tic, an  adventure  into  a  Far  Country  for  which  he  is  fully 
equipped.  And  one  morning,  when  I  find  a  German  hel- 
met and  an  old  violin  on  Brown's  empty  hed,  and  the  nurse 
tells  me  with  a  sad  little  smile  that  it's  going  to  be  an  awful 
task  but  she's  promised  Brown  that  his  mother  shall  have 
all  his  treasures  and  that  she's  going  to  see  it  through,  some- 
how or  other,  it  isn't  Brown  who's  gone  out  of  my  life  — 
it's  one  of  my  friends* 

"  But  only  a  few  have  slipped  away  and  left  me  sad. 
Such  pure  fun  as  I  get  from  most  of  these  boys !  I  never 
hope  to  be  better  entertained  than  I  was  by  a  slender  youth 
with  a  great  glass  button  which  really  came  out  of  a  birth- 
day cake  but  which  he  had  just  convinced  a  too  credulous 
nurse  was  on  a  bodice  of  Queen  Elizabeth's.  The  button 
held  firmly  in  his  eye  and  a  fire  poker  for  a  swagger-stick, 
he  gave  an  illustration  of  a  Yank  soldier  he  saw  in  the 
Strand  worrying  a  '  Bobbie  ?  by  talking  British  English  to 
him.  I  never  hope  to  be  more  fascinated  than  I  have  been 
by  the  tales  of  adventure  Rufus  told  me.  For  Rufus  had 
been  a  simply,  carefully  reared  boy  working  in  the  cotton 
mills  of  a  Southern  State  and  living  the  round  of  life  of  the 
average  country-town  boy.  Then  he  wanted  to  be  a  soldier 
and  in  no  time  he  was  one,  with  a  machine  gun  on  the  Hin- 
denburg  Line,  living  a  thousand  years  in  a  few  weeks, 
knowing  nothing  of  time,  caring  nothing  for  life,  seeing 
death  in  its  most  terrible  aspects,  having  impressions 
burned  into  a  very  young  and  utterly  inexperienced  mind. 
Of  course  he  left  me  a  bragging,  boasting  Yank,  but  in  the 
first  days,  when  days  were  very  long  for  a  broken  body  and 
a  mind  that  could  think  only  of  the  terrors  of  war,  when  a 
heart  was  sick  for  home,  then  I  found  the  simple  recital 


THE  INCOMING  LEGIONS  AT  LIVERPOOL      131 

of  war  stories  in  a  soft,  Southern  voice  to  give  me  the  most 
fascinating  hours  of  a  busy  day. 

"  On  the  afternoons  of  our  dance  nights  there  is  the  mak- 
ing of  sandwiches,  tons  of  sandwiches ;  going  into  steaming 
kitchens  and  finding  a  most  accommodating  mess  sergeant 
to  furnish  us  bread  and  margarine  and  a  K.P.  who  will  cut 
loaf  after  loaf  for  us,  spreading  '  margie  '  and  cheese  and 
salmon  for  hours  in  storerooms  that  are  almost  at  freezing 
point;  then  serving  those  sandwiches  at  night  with  cocoa 
to  a  crowd  of  dancers  that  are  never  all  served  and  never 
could  be  all  served. 

"  It  was  a  wise  Solomon  who  discovered  the  root  of  all 
evil.  Money  matters  are  the  most  maddening.  I  always 
have  my  pockets  filled  with  the  money  of  some  boy  who  is 
afraid  to  keep  his  own  and  my  pocketbook  is  usually  occu- 
pied by  an  I.O.U.  from  a  soldier  {  out  of  luck/  in  spite 
of  my  protests  that  his  word  suffices.  Always  I  am  receiv- 
ing queer  little  notes  with  a  few  shillings  inclosed  from 
some  boy  who  has  left  camp  and  failed  to  find  me  before  he 
had  to  go." 

The  Ked  Cross  gave  camp  service  also  to  the  British  hos- 
pitals in  Manchester,  Chester,  Birmingham  and  Wallasey, 
where  American  soldiers  were  under  treatment.  Red 
Cross  infirmaries  were  instituted  in  the  American  camps  at 
Hooton  Park,  Shotwick  and  Shawbury.  And  such  was  the 
renown  of  the  "  Flying  Squadron '  attached  to  London 
headquarters  that  a  duplicate  of  it  was  organized  for  the 
Liverpool  area.  The  Red  Cross  also  supplied  fine  clubs 
for  nurses  at  Mossley  Hill  and  Knotty  Ash  and  to  supple- 
ment them,  rooms  were  rented  in  Liverpool  and  furnished 
as  a  city  club  for  nurses  either  attached  to  the  hospitals  or 
passing  through  the  city  to  other  posts.  In  the  same  way, 
a  rest  room  was  furnished  for  the  women  employed  in  the 
army  quartermaster's  department  and  one  for  the  military 
transport  service. 


132  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

The  Naval  Department  of  the  Liverpool  office  was 
charged  with  caring  for  the  crews  of  American  destroyers 
which  put  into  the  port  from  time  to  time  or  made  their 
headquarters  there  and  thus  considerable  quantities  of  sur- 
gical instruments  and  appliances,  blankets  and  comforts  of 
various  kinds  were  furnished  to  the  navy. 

Thanksgiving  Day  was  one  to  be  remembered  in  the 
Liverpool  district.  The  Red  Cross  bought  14,000  pounds 
of  turkey  and  14,000  oranges  with  a  sufficient  amount  of 
peas,  potatoes,  cauliflower,  mince  pie,  white  bread,  butter 
and  candy  to  make  a  feast  for  every  American  in  every  hos- 
pital, camp  and  post  in  the  zone.  The  dinner,  however, 
was  only  a  part  of  the  celebration  of  that  day.  A  few  hours 
thereafter  Lord  Ritchie  and  Lady  Ritchie,  the  Mayor  of 
Liverpool  and  his  wrife,  gave  a  "  dancing  tea  "  in  the  town 
hall  for  the  Americans.  It  was  the  first  time  that  the 
edifice  had  been  used  for  a  social  event  since  August,  1914, 
and  the  only  man  present  in  civilian  dress  was  the  Lord 
Mayor  himself. 

Dale  Street,  the  headquarters  of  the  Red  Cross,  was  the 
focal  point  for  all  the  American  soldiers  who  were  in  any 
kind  of  trouble.  One  Saturday  afternoon  two  of  them 
wandered  in.  They  were  scarcely  more  than  boys  and  were 
not  at  all  at  ease  when  they  entered.  Captain  Kirkover,  a 
Buffalo  banker,  was  the  Red  Cross  man  at  the  head  of 
things  in  Liverpool  and  one  of  the  youngsters,  speaking  for 
both,  said  to  him,  rather  hesitatingly,  "  We've  both  been 
wounded  and  were  discharged  a  little  while  ago  from  a  hos- 
pital in  the  south  of  England.  We're  waiting  our  turn  to 
go  back  to  America  —  but  we're  flat  broke.  Both  of  us 
put  our  bank  accounts  at  home  in  the  names  of  our  wives 
and  —  this  is  all  we've  got." 

The  boy  drew  from  his  wallet  a  ten-dollar  check  of  his 
wife's  and  handed  it  to  Captain  Kirkover.  He  looked  it 
over  and  asked,  "  How  much  do  you  want  ? ' 

"  What  will  you  give  me  on  the  check  ? ' 


THE  INCOMING  LEGIONS  AT  LIVERPOOL      133 


"  Nothing,"  was  the  quick  reply.  "  The  Red  Cross  is 
going  to  lend  you  the  money." 

On  Monday  at  7  :15  o'clock  in  the  morning  when  Captain 
Kirkover  came  downstairs  into  the  office  of  his  hotel  he 
found  the  two  boys  at  the  news  stand  awaiting  him.  The 
older  one  came  up  at  once  and  said,  "  You  started  good 
luck  for  us.  We  got  our  pay  through  and  another  check  for 
twenty-five  from  home,"  and  immediately  he  repaid  the 
money  the  Red  Cross  had  advanced. 

One  of  the  men  from  the  London  headquarters  met  Gap- 
tain  Kirkover  in  the  street  in  Liverpool  and  handed  him  a 
twenty-franc  note. 

"  What's  this  for  ?  "  he  asked.  "  What  am  I  to  do  with 
it?" 

"  I'll  tell  you  where  I  got  it,"  was  the  reply.  "  A  woman 
handed  it  to  me.  She  said  that  she  had  met  an  American 
enlisted  man,  a  private,  who  was  going  home  to  die.  He 
said  to  her,  '  Before  I  go  I  want  to  give  this  to  you  and  ask 
that  you  give  it  to  the  first  American  Red  Cross  man  you 
meet,  because  his  people  have  done  so  much  for  me.' 

On  another  day  an  Englishwoman,  the  wife  of  an  Ameri- 
can husband  who  was  a  petty  officer  aboard  ship,  came  to 
the  Dale  Street  headquarters  to  say  that  her  allotments  did 
not  reach  her.  She  was  in  a  pitiable  condition.  A  little 
while  before  she  had  given  birth  to  a  baby  which  had  died 
from  lack  of  nourishment  'and  she  had  had  no  money  with 
which  to  bury  it.  She  had  borrowed  four  pounds  from  a 
money-lender  in  Liverpool  who  had  paid  her  only  three 
pounds  ten  shillings,  taking,  in  the  first  instance,  a  discount 
of  ten  shillings  and,  as  she  learned  later,  tricking  her  into 
signing  a  note  for  seven  pounds.  This  sum  was  to  be  re- 
paid at  the  rate  of  eight  shillings  a  week  out  of  wages  of 
twelve  shillings  weekly  which  she  received  for  doing  clean- 
ing work  on  one  of  the  ships. 

In  this  case  the  attorneys  of  the  Red  Cross  at  once  in- 
stituted proceedings  against  the  money-lender,  paid  the 


134  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

woman's  debt,  arranged  the  remittance  of  her  allotment  so 
that  it  reached  her  promptly  and  got  her  out  of  all  her 
troubles  so  quickly  that  she  wept  for  amazement  if  for  no 
other  reason. 

Just  after  Christmas,  when  the  repatriated  civilian 
prisoners  began  to  land  in  England,  seventy-five  of  the 
Americans  were  sent  on  to  Liverpool  for  passage  home  and 
it  devolved  upon  the  Red  Cross  to  outfit  them  with  new 
suits  of  clothing,  rain-coats  and  shoes,  because  they  came 
out  of  Germany  in  nondescript  shreds.  In  their  eagerness 
to  get  home,  three  of  them  stowed  away  on  a  White  Star 
Liner,  but  were  discovered  as  the  ship  was  leaving  the 
Mersey  and  turned  over  to  the  civil  authorities,  who  do  not 
look  with  kindly  eye  upon  travelers  of  that  kind.  Of 
course,  these  men  immediately  appealed  to  the  Red  Cross 
and  a  representative  went  to  court  the  morning  of  the  ex- 
amination to  see  what  could  be  done.  It  was  too  late  to  at- 
tempt an  effort  to  halt  the  case ;  the  only  hope  lay  in  reach- 
ing the  sympathies  of  the  court,  and  this  the  Red  Cross 
man  did  so  effectively  that  the  prisoners  were  released,  thus 
adding  three  more  to  the  hundreds  of  thousands  who  will 
never  forget  the  Red  Cross  as  long  as  they  live. 

At  Leicester,  one  of  Liverpool's  close  war-relations,  owing 
to  the  numbers  of  American  troops  which  passed  through 
on  their  way  to  or  from  the  port,  the  Red  Cross  often  had 
its  hands  full  to  overflowing.  The  first  six  trains  that  the 
Leicester  canteen  crew  served  were  crowded  with  negro 
troops.  It  was  at  midnight  that  the  first  train  came  in  and 
as  due  notice  of  its  coming  had  been  given,  the  Red  Cross 
was  on  the  platform  when  it  arrived.  Almost  every  man 
on  the  train  was  fast  asleep  and  as  no  word  had  been  sent  as 
to  the  name  or  service  of  the  detachment,  a  Red  Cross 
worker  with  a  basket  of  sandwiches  on  her  arm  and  a 
"  tank,"  steaming  with  coffee,  trundling  behind  her  down 
the  walkway,  called  up  to  a  coach : 

"  Who's  in  there  ?  " 

In  one  leap  a  man  was  at  the  window.     (t  We's  fightin' 


THE  INCOMING  LEGIONS  AT  LIVERPOOL      135 

black  devils  f ' m  New  York  City,  an'  who  you,  Miss  ? ' 

"  I'm  the  American  Red  Cross  !  ' 

Even  in  the  dark  it  was  possible  to  see  the  wide,  high  and 
deep  grin  that  opened  that  face.  "  Lawzee,  Miss  —  hyah, 
wake  up,  you  niggers,  wake  up,  the  angels  is  come ! ' 

As  there  was  an  allowance  of  only  twenty  minutes  for 
canteen  work,  the  detachment  needed  no  great  urging  to 
swarm  out  of  the  coaches  and  line  up  for  coffee  and  sand- 
wiches, chocolate  and  cigarettes  and  the  chance  for  relaxa- 
tion which  the  stop  permitted. 

There  was  always  a  great  deal  of  merriment  among  the 
colored  troops,  much  joking,  not  lacking  in  the  spice  of  a 
real  and  native  humor,  and,  of  course,  singing,  for  any 
four  negroes  in  the  world  can  fashion  themselves  into  a 
"  barber-shop  '  quartet.  "  The  Long,  Long  Trail '  and 
"  Katie '  rang  out  with  rare  melody  many  times  in  the 
reverberating  spaces  of  the  Leicester  station.  And  here  the 
Red  Cross  women  came  upon  a  soldier  who  monumentally 
sacrificed  himself  on  the  altar  of  his  devotion.  He  was  the 
negro  color-bearer  of  the  regimental  flag.  When  he  got 
out  of  his  coach  he  brought  the  flag  with  him,  carefully 
enclosed  in  its  shiny  black  water-proof  scabbard  atop  the 
staff,  but  when  it  came  time  to  take  a  mug  of  coffee,  a 
sandwich,  a  bar  of  chocolate  and  a  package  of  cigarettes,  to 
say  nothing  of  a  sugary  bun  which  had  been  urged  upon 
him,  he  found  that  he  did  not  have  hands  enough  to  go 
round.  One  had  to  be  detailed  to  the  colors,  that  was  cer- 
tain, and  as  only  one  remained  it  could  hold  only  one  thing 
at  a  time  and  while  he  was  deciding  the  order  came  to 
board  the  train  and  be  off.  If  a  canteen  worker  had  not 
slipped  a  bar  of  chocolate  in  his  pocket  as  he  ran  he  would 
have  had  nothing.  One  of  the  officers  who  had  been  watch- 
ing the  man  told  a  Red  Cross  worker  that  there  was  not  a 
man  in  the  entire  regiment  who  could  get  that  flag  away 
from  the  color-bearer  for  one  sixteenth  of  an  instant,  either 
by  pretext  or  force. 

The  Leicester  office  of  the  Red  Cross  received  a  tele- 


136  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

phone  call  at  10  :30  o'clock  one  night  from  London  head- 
quarters that  the  first  American  aviation  unit  to  be  returned 
to  the  States  after  the  Armistice  would  pass  through  Nune- 
aton,  twenty-six  miles  from  Leicester,  at  midnight  and 
that  there  would  be  250  men  in  the  detachment. 

This,  by  the  simplest  kind  of  arithmetic,  allowed  the 
canteen  one  hour  and  a  half  to  make  coffee,  gather  supplies 
and  scamper  two  score  miles  across  the  countryside  —  a 
"  man-size  job."  But  the  force  went  at  it  tooth  and  nail, 
which  is  the  proverbial  way,  isn't  it  ?  piled  its  things  into 
a  motor  and  sped  away,  getting  to  Nuneaton  just  as  the 
train  pulled  in  —  with  500  Americans  aboard !  Nor  was 
this  the  worst  of  it ;  the  men  had  had  no  food  since  break- 
fast! 

In  keeping  with  the  nursery  jingle,  if  the  provision  of 
edibles  and  drinkables  had  been  stronger  this  tale  would 
have  been  longer,  but  it  requires  only  a  short  time  to  dis- 
pense to  500  men  the  rations  intended  for  250.  At  any 
rate  each  of  the  500  received  a  fair  share  by  "  going 
halvers  "  on  everything.  The  two  officers  alone  took  noth- 
ing, saying  that  they  much  preferred  relinquishing  their 
portion  to  the  men. 

Soon  after  the  Armistice,  the  navy  aviation  camp  units 
began  coming  through  Leicester  on  their  way  to  Knotty 
Ash  for  subsequent  embarkation  at  Liverpool.  Six  hun- 
dred sailors  came  in  a  train  which  arrived  at  2  :30  o'clock 
one  morning.  Naval  units  never  traveled  with  mess  kits 
and  as  the  Red  Cross  had  only  100  cups  for  its  service,  the 
soldiers  always  providing  their  own,  the  problem  in  this 
instance  was  complicated  by  an  additional  washing  service 
in  order  that  each  man  should  have  a  clean  drinking  re- 
ceptacle. And  when  the  canteen  unit  was  just  ready  to 
turn  in,  tired  out  with  all  this  extra  work,  another  train 
with  600  more  bluejackets  aboard  rolled  in  an  hour  later. 

But  with  all  the  speed  with  which  the  trains  were  hurry- 
ing the  Americans  southward,  the  canteen  people  had  little 
time  for  rest  on  any  night,  nor  many  intervals  of  even 


THE  INCOMING  LEGIONS  AT  LIVERPOOL      137 

seeming  release  from  their  task  and  several  units  have  on 
record,  periods  of  continuous  labor  for  more  than  fifty-six 
hours,  their  members  taking  turns  at  "  forty  winks  '  on 
the  un-upholstered  counters  of  railway  lunch  rooms. 
Xevertheless  the  canteen  work  in  the  busy  Midlands  was 
loyally  and  enthusiastically  carried  out  for  many  months. 
At  Birmingham  the  trains  came  through  either  at  3  o'clock 
in  the  morning  or  at  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  and  by  means 
of  blueprint  plans  of  the  station  which  the  Red  Cross  fur- 
nished to  the  commanding  officer  of  each  detachment,  it  was 
possible  to  form  the  soldiers  in  lines  and  proceed  with  an 
orderly  distribution  of  coffee  and  food,  eight  or  ten  minutes 
sufficing  to  serve  as  many  as  500  men.  The  numbers 
served  weekly  were  as  high  as  10,000  at  Birmingham,  5,000 
at  Leicester  and  4,000  at  Derby. 

Even  during  the  greatest  rush  period  the  canteen  women 
made  opportunities  to  talk  with  the  men,  to  wish  them  all 
sorts  of  good  luck  if  they  were  "  going  up '  and  to  con- 
gratulate them  if  their  faces  were  set  the  other  and  the 
happier  way.  And  when  these  tireless  canteen  workers 
were  not  serving  coffee  and  buns  at  all  hours  of  the  night 
they  were  giving  their  days  to  visiting  the  wounded  Amer- 
icans in  the  neighboring  hospitals.  A  strange  coincidence 
came  of  this  double  duty.  When  one  of  the  troop-trains 
from  Liverpool,  loaded  with  American  soldiers  bound  for 
France,  pulled  up  in  the  Midland  Railway  station  in  Bir- 
mingham and  the  men  scurried  out  for  canteen  service, 
one  of  the  youngsters  said  to  a  Red  Cross  worker  that  he 
had  a  brother  who  was  brigaded  with  a  British  division  at 
the  front  and  had  been  sent  back,  badly  wounded,  to  a  hos- 
pital somewhere  near  Birmingham.  He  wanted  to  know, 
even  if  it  was  sort  of  foolish  to  ask  such  a  thing,  whether 
anybody  there  in  the  canteen  knew  anything  about  this 
brother  of  his,  how  he  was  getting  along,  and  whether  any 
word  could  be  sent  to  him  that  his  brother  had  passed 
through  Birmingham  on  the  way  to  the  line. 

The  young  woman  of  whom  he  inquired  knew  that  one 


138  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

of  her  co-workers  had  been  visiting  Americans  that  day 
and  called  her  over.  Did  she  know  anything  about  a  Ser- 
geant X ?  Surely  she  did,  she  had  seen  him,  talked 

with  him,  he  was  getting  well  so  rapidly  that  he'd  be  out 
of  hospital  in  about  a  week.  And  she  was-  going  to  see 
him  again  to-morrow  and  she'd  take  him  any  message  his 
brother  wished  to  send.  "  Gee,  Sister,  but  wasn't  it  lucky 
to  have  asked  ?  " 


CHAPTEE  VIII 

A    DRAMA    IN    FINANCE 

fTlHE  enthusiastic  commander  of  an  American  military 
A  station  in  England  said  one  day :  "  The  Red  Cross 
over  here  is  nothing  less  than  the  Genie  of  Aladdin's  Lamp. 
We  simply  rub  the  Lamp  and  the  Red  Cross  instantly  ap- 
pears from  somewhere  with  what  we  need !  ' 

But  the  Genie  who  served  even  Aladdin's  extravagant 
bidding  had  a  political  sinecure  compared  with  the  Red 
Cross  Genie's  job!  Aladdin  had  only  one  lamp;  the 
Genie  to  whom  the  officer  so  artfully  referred  was  the 
Spirit  of  twice  ten  thousand  lamps !  They  were  scattered 
the  length  and  breadth  of  Great  Britain,  in  every  head- 
quarters, in  every  camp,  hospital  and  rest  station,  ship 
and  base-port ;  there  was  one  in  the  kit  of  every  American 
soldier  who  set  foot  in  the  British  Isles  —  an  army  of 
Aladdins  —  and  only  one  Genie !  Why,  comparing 
mileage  alone,  it  makes  the  Arabian  spook  appear  as  if  he 
had  never  left  home! 

As  the  needs  of  a  great  body  of  men  under  arms  are 
many  and  peculiar,  multiplying  with  inevitable  illness  and 
the  hazards  of  battle,  never  a  day  passed  that  some  one 
was  not  rubbing  a  bright  spot  on  his  Lamp.  The  re- 
quests ranged  from  a  pack  of  cigarettes  to  a  complete  hos- 
pital equipment  —  including  the  hospital  itself !  The 
Red  Cross  Genie  often  had  to  think  quickly  and  act  at  once 
because  with  one  delay  his  reputation  was  lost. 

Countless  times  during  his  service  in  Great  Britain  his 
superhuman  powers  were  tried,  but,  perhaps,  never  more 
notably  than  through  the  rub  given  to  the  Lamp  which  had 
been  allotted  to  the  office  of  Colonel  H,  F.  Rethers,  the 
Chief  Quartermaster,  at  American  Army  Headquarters  in 
London.  It  was  Colonel  Rethers  himself  who  adminis- 

139 


140  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

tered  the  rub  and  it  happened  on  the  morning  of  the  19th 
of  November,  1918,  eight  days  after  the  signing  of  the 
Armistice. 

As  a  mere  rub  it  differed  not  at  all  from  innumerable 
others  and  no  man  living  could  have  dreamed  what  was  to 
come  of  it.  But  in  that  moment  was  begun  a  drama  as 
fantastic  as  an  Arabian  Night's  tale  of  treasure  chests  and 
as  grotesquely  human  as  rough  hilarity  and  mute  wretch- 
edness, shoulder  to  shoulder  on  the  stage,  could  make  it. 
There  was  no  time  for  rehearsal ;  with  one  rub  the  curtain 
rose  and  the  play  was  on,  with  its  vast  stage  and  its  legion 
of  players.  It  involved  the  richest  financial  institutions 
of  England  in  a  search  for  long  hidden  treasure.  It  hur- 
ried trusted  messengers  to  ransack  bank  vaults  and  started 
a  veritable  procession  of  taxicabs  through  the  streets  of 
London  to  transport  the  wealth  they  yielded.  It  sent 
lone  women  on  midnight  journeys  from  city  to  city  with 
tens  of  thousands  of  dollars  concealed  in  their  simple  hand- 
bags. It  brought  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  million  dol- 
lars in  an  iron-bound,  piratical  looking  chest  from  far 
America. 

Its  scenes  were  set  in  divers  places  and  covered  many 
days  from  dawn  till  almost  dawn  again.  It  conjured  a 
grinning  joke  to  the  lips  of  a  regiment  of  men  as  they 
took  their  cues  and  came  from  the  wings,  and,  with  swift 
tears,  dimmed  the  eyes  of  many  who  had  their  allotted 
parts  to  play. 

This,  in  brief,  was  the  drama,  of  an  instant's  creation, 
which  came  of  the  simple  rub.  What  was  the  reason  for 
it  ?  It  lay  in  the  twisted  wad  of  English  bills  in  an  Ameri- 
can soldier's  pocket,  in  the  guarded  shillings,  warm  in 
their  cotton  bag  around  the  neck  of  a  helpless  American 
soldier  on  his  cot,  in  a  bounden  duty  to  an  army  of  Ameri- 
cans who  awaited  the  troopships  which  were  to  bear  them 
home  again. 

So  much  for  the  argument ;  now  for  the  Genie's  entrance 
and  the  play: 


A  DRAMA  IN  FINANCE  141 

When  Colonel  Kethers  gave  the  rub  the  Genie  responded, 
fortunately  accompanied  by  Major  Foster  Rockwell— -a 
famous  Yale  quarter-back  in  1902,  by  the  way  -  -  who  was 
Director  of  the  Eed  Cross  Department  of  Military  Re- 
lief. What  Colonel  Rethers  had  to  say  was  this : 

"  A  large  number  of  our  troops  is  to  be  sent  home  as 
soon  as  possible.  Orders  have  come  that  they  are  to  be 
paid  in  American  currency  before  they  leave.  This  office 
has  no  American  money ;  it  has  had  to  pay  the  men  in 
English  pounds,  shillings  and  pence.  It  isn't  quite  fair 
to  them  that  they  should  have  to  take  this  home  for  ex- 
change. Will  not  the  Red  Cross  undertake,  through  its 
organization  in  the  field,  its  conversion  into  American 
money  for  every  man  who  is  under  orders  to  return  to  the 
States  ?  " 

It  was  a  "  facer,"  to  say  the  least  of  it,  particularly 
as  the  Chief  Quartermaster  announced  that  on  the  very 
next  day  his  department  would  pay  off  about  three  thou- 
sand men  at  Knotty  Ash  Camp,  near  Liverpool,  before 
their  embarkation.  "  I  shall  issue  orders,"  he  added,  as 
if  to  lighten  the  task,  "  that  not  more  than  two  pounds 
are  to  be  exchanged  for  any  individual,  and  none  for 
officers." 

Prompted  by  a  nudge  from  the  Genie,  Major  Rockwell 
said,  without  the  quiver  of  an  eyelash,  that  the  Red  Cross 
could  and  would  undertake  the  conversion  and  be  on  the 
job  at  once.  He  knew  the  Genie. 

While  the  affair  was  clearly  one  of  Camp  Service  and 
in  his  jurisdiction  Major  Rockwell  had  to  invoke  the  aid 
of  the  Red  Cross  Financial  Department,  that  well-spring  of 
benefits  deserved.  So  he  hurried  across  Grosvenor 
Gardens  and  laid  his  problem  on  the  desk  of  Captain 
Howard  L.  Bridges,  its  Director.  Captain  Bridges,  who 
speaks  almost  as  quietly  as  he  listens,  reached  for  his 
telephone  and  called  up  a  great  London  bank. 

"  How  much  do  you  think  we'll  need  ? '  Rockwell  in- 
quired as  they  awaited  the  response. 


142  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

"  All  we  can  get,"  Bridges  replied,  slowly.  "  This 
business  is  going  to  last  for  months." 

"  When  do  you  intend  to  start  it  ? ' 

"  To-morrow  morning." 

Then  came  the  answering  ring  and  Bridges  had  the 
manager  on  the  wire. 

"  This  is  the  American  Red  Cross.  Please  send  us  at 
once  all  the  American  money,  small  bills  —  ones,  twos 
and  fives  and  all  the  silver  coin,  that  you  can  spare. 
We'll  take  all  you  can  give  us,  at  the  current  rate,  from 
4.76  to  4.78.  .  .  .  What?  ...  All  right,  but  send  it  up 
in  a  taxi,  and  hurry  it  along,  please." 

A  second  bank,  a  third,  a  fourth  were  called  in  the 
same  way  and  each  was  urged  to  hasten  its  delivery  by 
cab. 

"  The  procession  ought  to  begin  pretty  soon,"  Bridges 
said  quietly  as  he  hung  up  the  receiver  on  the  last  call. 

The  first  of  the  cabs  did  arrive  within  twenty-five 
minutes  after  the  appeal  was  flashed  out  and  before  the 
end  of  banking  hours  that  day  more  than  thirty-two  thou- 
sand dollars  in  American  bills  and  silver  had  been  laid 
upon  Captain  Bridge's  desk.  And  such  a  collection  of 
paper  and  coin  it  was !  Many  of  the  bills  were  of  issues 
unfamiliar  and  long  superseded  and  the  silver  included  the 
half-dime  pieces  of  a  bygone  day  and  even  the  diminutive 
three-cent  coins  of  silver  and  of  nickel  which  are  treasured 
in  cases  of  collectors.  Late  in  the  afternoon  when  Rock- 
well telephoned  to  inquire  what  success  he  had  had  Bridges 
replied : 

"  Oh,  about  enough  to  open  a  country  bank,  but  most  of 
it  looks  as  if  it  had  come  out  of  the  Ark !  And  I've  just 
had  word  from  a  broker  here  that  he  has  located  fifteen 
thousand  for  us  in  Liverpool.  That'll  probably  be  in  shin 
plasters.  Anyhow,  we've  scraped  up  more  than  thirty 
thousand  dollars  already.  We  can  start  on  that,  I  guess." 

While  the  taxicabs  were  arriving  Bridges  busied  him- 
self figuring  out  the  rate  at  which  the  money  should  be  ex- 


A  DRAMA  IN  FINANCE  143 

changed.  Many  soldiers,  he  knew,  had  unwisely  accepted 
$4.75  on  the  pound  sterling.  The  London  banks  were 
offering  from  $4.76  to  $4.78,  but  the  fact  that  there  were 
no  American  pennies  to  be  found  in  England  made  either 
of  the  bank  rates  impossible  for  the  Red  Cross.  So,  in 
order  to  obviate  any  criticism,  any  suggestion  of  money 
making  by  the  transaction,  Bridges  decided  upon  a  fixed 
rate  of  $4.80.  It  entailed  a  slight  loss,  of  course,  but  one 
which  obviously  did  not  fall  upon  the  men. 

This  question  settled,  he  had  his  staff  of  assistants  work 
out  and  tabulate  the  American  equivalent  for  every  sum 
from  a  penny  to  a  hundred  pounds.  Then  it  occurred  to 
him  that  doubtless  many  of  the  men  who  had  been  at  the 
front  would  still  have  French  money  in  their  pockets  and 
wish  this  also  converted.  So  a  set  of  tables  was  prepared 
as  to  centimes  and  francs.  These,  with  the  bundles  of 
money  constituted  the  necessary  paraphernalia;  the  ques- 
tion now  was  to  get  it  to  Liverpool.  Fortunately,  there 
was  a  sleeper  train  from  London,  due  to  reach  the  port  at 
6  o'clock  in  the  morning.  The  bills  and  coin  were  stowed 
in  two  leather  attache  boxes,  which  are  not  unlike  the 
cases  a  far-traveling  country  doctor  takes  with  him  on  his 
rounds,  and  given  to  Lieutenant  James  V.  Malcolm,  the 
Red  Cross  Comptroller,  and  Mrs.  Sybil  de  G.  Elsee,  the 
cashier,  with  no  more  than  the  broad  instruction  that  they 
were  to  "  go  to  Liverpool  and  change  the  money  for  the 
soldiers."  All  the  details  of  the  task  were  left  to  their 
own  devices. 

"  Get  whatever  help  you  can.  I'll  rush  the  American 
money  down  to  you  as  fast  as  it  comes  in,"  Bridges  said  by 
way  of  good-by. 

That  no  sleeping  accommodations  were  obtainable  on 
this  always  crowded  midnight  train  made  no  difference; 
Malcolm  and  Mrs.  Elsee,  with  their  precious  boxes, 
squeezed  into  a  day  compartment  -  -  and  sat  up  all  night 
in  sleepless  vigil. 

Now  to  leave  them  in  their  discomfort  and  return  to 


144  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

Captain  Bridges  for  a  moment.  Early  next  morning  he 
took  the  telephone  book  in  his  lap  and  began  calling  up  all 
the  remaining  banks,  the  express  companies  and  every 
exchange  broker  in  London  with  an  insatiable  demand  for 
American  money.  And  again  the  taxicab  procession 
started,  this  time  bringing  in  nearly  forty  thousand  dol- 
lars. On  the  following  day,  and  for  many  days  thereafter, 
the  delivery  went  on,  the  great  financial  houses  of  London 
practically  stripping  their  vaults  of  American  currency. 
As  soon  as  a  sufficiently  large  sum  was  collected  each  day 
at  Captain  Bridges'  office,  it  was  packed  into  attache  cases 
and  hurried  to  Liverpool  by  the  night  express.  Now  and 
then  instead  of  the  actual  money,  a  note  would  come  from 
some  bank  to  say  that  it  was  expediting  matters  by  sending 
its  own  messenger  to  a  Liverpool  branch  with  fifty  or 
sixty  thousand  American  dollars. 

So  successful  was  Captain  Bridges'  quest  that  in  seven 
days  it  yielded  nearly  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  in 
London  alone.  In  addition  to  this  he  was  notified  that 
large  sums  had  been  collected  by  Liverpool  banks,  some 
of  the  money  coming  even  from  Glasgow,  and  been  placed 
at  the  disposal  of  the  Red  Cross.  At  the  same  time,  the 
busy  Chief  Quartermaster's  office  informed  him  of  its  in- 
tent to  pay  other  bodies  of  men  who,  likewise,  "  would 
appreciate  the  exchange." 

This  was  convincingly  corroborative  of  the  magnitude 
that  the  conversion  enterprise  was  to  attain  and  as  Bridges 
knew  he  must  soon  exhaust  the  British  supply  of  American 
currency,  he  cabled  headquarters  in  Washington  to  dis- 
patch three  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  bills  by  the  first 
available  steamer.  It  arrived  by  the  Ceramic  on  the  9th 
of  December  in  a  formidable  wooden  chest  weighing  (some 
people  dote  on  figures ! )  four  hundred  pounds.  It  was 
well  that  it  came  when  it  did  —  thanks  again  to  the  Genie 
—  for  s'o  constant  was  the  demand  that  bv  the  first  of  the 

f 

year  at  Liverpool  alone,  a  half  a  million  dollars  had  been 
paid  out  to  the  returning  soldiers  in  exchange  for  their 


A  DRAMA  IN  FINANCE  145 

equivalent  in  English  and  French  moneys.  Some  of  the 
men  even  proffered  Dutch  and  Belgian  money  and  this, 
too,  to  their  surprise,  was  converted  for  them. 

From  Liverpool,  the  activity  was  swift  in  extending  to 
Southampton,  Portsmouth  and  Winchester,  to  Dartford, 
Paignton  and  Tottenham,  Sarisbury  Court  and  Mossley 
Hill,  to  every  hospital  and  rest  camp  in  England  at  which 
American  soldiers  were  waiting  on  the  ere  of  their  em- 
barkation for  home.  How  active  it  really  was  is  clearly 
conveyed  in  the  fact  that  as  much  as  forty  thousand  dol- 
lars were  exchanged  in  a  single  day  at  one  camp. 

The  work  required  eventually  the  services  of  every  as- 
sistant Captain  Bridges  could  spare  from  his  department, 
most  of  them  young  women,  and  of  many  Red  Cross  men 
already  on  duty  at  the  camps  and  hospitals.  It  neces- 
sitated alertness,  patience  and  kindliness  unlimited  and, 
in  its  beginnings,  no  small  share  of  hardship.  It  was  far 
from  pleasant  to  work  from  early  morning  until  long  past 
dinner  time  with  only  a  bite  of  biscuit  and  a  cup  of  luke- 
warm tea  for  luncheon,  nor  was  there  one  ounce  of  bodily 
comfort  in  sitting  up  all  night  in  a  lonesome  hotel  room 
to  guard  a  leather  case  heavy  with  money.  Yet  the  young 
women  from  the  Comptroller's  office  did  this  many  times 
and  afterwards  laughed  when  they  told  of  it.  One  of 
them  became  so  utterly  worn  out  with  her  long  vigils  that 
one  night  she  took  her  case,  with  its  three  thousand  dol- 
lars' worth  of  English  and  American  currency,  to  bed  with 
her  — "  and  was  kept  awake  all  night  long  by  the  beastlv 
thing !  " 

They  were  a  plucky  lot,  these  young  women  upon  whom 
great  responsibilities  and  the  necessity  for  something 
closely  akin  to  real  courage  were  suddenly  thrust.  Alone, 
without  even  another  woman  to  bear  them  company,  pro- 
tected only  by  their  Red  Cross  uniforms,  they  carried  large 
sums  of  money  —  sixty-two  thousand  dollars  was  the  nerve 
racking  bundle  entrusted  to  one  of  them  on  an  all  night 
railway  journey! — from  London  to  distant  American 


146  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

camps.  But  they  "  carried  on  ' '  through  it  all  —  through 
the  watchfulness  and  weariness  the  work  exacted,  the  lone- 
someness  and  apprehension  of  traveling,  and  the  dragging 
weight  of  their  money  cases  which,  though  it  sometimes 
reached  forty  pounds  could  not  he  relinquished  either  to 
railway  porters  or  to  courteous  fellow  travelers  but  must 
be  borne  to  the  journey's  end.  Nor  were  they  without  ad- 
ventures of  a  milder  sort.  A  motor  car  bringing  two  of 
them  back  to  London  from  Dartford  with  twenty  thou- 
sand dollars'  worth  of  English  notes  and  silver  they  had 
received  in  exchange  came  to  a  dead  stop  at  night  on  Black- 
heath.  The  knowledge  each  possessed  that  here  was  where 
the  worthies  of  Dick  Turpin's  ilk  used  to  make  the  occu- 
pants of  passing  coaches  "  stand  and  deliver  "  did  not  add 
to  their  cheerfulness  when  the  chauffeur  started  on  a  mile 
walk  for  the  nearest  gasoline.  But  they  rolled  their 
precious  packet  in  a  robe,  put  their  feet  on  it  and  talked 
about  the  weather  until  he  returned.  It  was  hours  after 
midnight  when  they  reached  London  and  as  there  was 
nothing  else  to  do  with  the  money  they  took  it  home  and 
sat  up  with  it  until  the  bank  opened. 

This  deserved  tribute  to  the  several  self-reliant  young 
women  of  Captain  Bridges'  staff  must  be  extended  also 
to  the  men  of  the  Red  Cross  who  worked  beside  them. 
For  they  too  shared  the  discomforts  as  well  -as  the  respon- 
sibilities and  to  all  of  them  is  due  the  great  success 
of  the  enterprise.  And  it  was  a  success  in  its  every  de- 
tail of  intended  helpfulness.  In  the  first  three  months 
of  its  activity,  it  exchanged  three  quarters  of  a  million  dol- 
lars for  the  home-bound  men  and  was  equipped  to  go  on 
as  far  beyond  a  million  as  any  demand  might  necessitate. 
It  added  in  no  small  way  to  their  comfort  and,  to  many, 
was  a  far  more  tangible  token  of  their  home-going  than 
the  official  order  which  set  their  faces  westward. 

Colonel  Rethers,  frank  in  his  appreciation  of  the  ac- 
complishment, said  to  the  writer: 

"  It  meant  more  to  the  army  than  I  can  express  to  you. 


A  DRAMA  IN  FINANCE  147 

And  how  the  Ked  Cross  accomplished  it  simply  amazes  me, 
for  when  the  emergency  arose  I  tried  everywhere  in  the 
London  market  to  get  American  money,  with  the  result 
that  I  collected  a  few  thousand  dollars,  a  trifling  sum  in 
view  of  the  great  amount  so  urgently  needed.  But  the 
Ked  Cross,  at  a  moment's  notice,  tapped  a  money  stream 
which  has  proved  inexhaustible.  It  was  wonderful,  to  say 
the  very  least  of  it ! 

"  As  a  matter  of  cold,  hard  business,  if  one  can  look 
at  it  in  that  way,  it  has  been  more  than  satisfactory,  for 
the  fixed  rate  of  exchange  is  obviously  in  favor  of  the 
men.  As  an  example  of  prompt  helpfulness  it  is  just 
what  the  Red  Cross  has  been  to  the  men  of  the  army  in 
all  of  its  undertakings." 

And  now  to  hark  back  to  Lieutenant  Malcolm  and  Mrs. 
Elsee  who,  by  this  time  —  for  their  train  was  two  hours 
late !  —  have  reached  Liverpool  with  their  precious  money 
bags. 

There  awaiting  them  at  Knotty  Ash  Camp  on  the  edge 
of  the  city,  were  fourteen  thousand  American  soldiers,  their 
pay  in  uninspiring  English  money  heavy  in  their  pockets, 
their  eyes  on  the  troopships  impatient  to  embark  them. 
They  were  men  of  the  Aero  Squadrons  and  the  first  to  be 
ordered  home  in  the  dismantling  of  the  great  military 
machine  America  had  erected  in  Britain.  Abundant 
promise,  indeed,  of  a  busy  task  and,  with  every  man's  ex- 
change allowance  set  at  two  pounds,  the  exhaustion  of  the 
thirty-two  thousand  dollars  unmistakably  in  sight ! 

But,  cheered  by  the  knowledge  that  more  money  would 
arrive  on  the  morrow,  Malcolm  and  Mrs.  Elsee  installed 
themselves  in  the  Red  Cross  storehouse  of  the  camp  and 
set  to  work.  They  commandeered  the  services  of  all  the 
available  Red  Cross  men  on  detail  there,  placed  two  long 
tables  to  form  an  aisle  in  the  storehouse,  laid  the  money 
out  on  them  in  convenient  piles,  and  announced  that  they 
were  ready  to  begin  business. 

The  news  that  the  Red  Cross  was  opening  a  "  Dollar 


148  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

Exchange  "  spread  by  "  camp  wireless '  to  every  quarter 
of  the  reservation  and  hundreds-  of  men  came  nocking  to  it. 
Under  the  supervision  of  their  officers  they  were  formed 
in  a  queue  with  instructions  to  enter  at  one  door,  pass 
between  the  tables  in  two  lines  with  their  money  ready, — 
not  more  than  two  pounds,  understand  ?  —  and  then  go  out 
as  quickly  as  they  could  by  the  other. 

Although  they  came  tramping  into  the  storehouse  eagerly 
enough  as  soon  as  the  doors  were  opened,  it  was  as  quickly 
evident  that  blind  faith  had  brought  a  great  many  of  them. 
These,  always  perplexed  by  England's  quaint  and  incon- 
venient money  system,  had  been  told  that  they  would  secure 
4.80  from  the  Red  Cross,  whatever  that  meant,  and  they 
were  willing  to  "  let  it  go  at  that."  They  did  not  bother, 
half  the  time,  to  count  the  money  they  presented.  A 
soldier  would  stop  before  one  of  the  workers,  toss  down 
whatever  his  pocket  contained  of  crumpled  bills  and  silver 
and  say :  "  I  don't  know  how  much  that  is  in  Honest 
to  God  money,  but  give  it  to  me,  just  the  same ! 3  An- 
other, with  more  of  reminiscence  than  finance  in  his  heart, 
would  exclaim,  as  he  smoothed  out  his  ten-shilling  notes, 
"  Gimme  just  two  of  those  good  old  long  green  ones  an' 
you  can  keep  the  change!  These  soap  wrappers  don't 
mean  a  thing  to  me ! '  And  still  another,  fairly  beaming, 
would  confess,  as  he  gathered  up  his  share,  "  Well,  this 
is  the  best  thing  I've  bought  since  I've  been  in  England, 
and  I'm  going  to  take  it  home  to  my  girl  for  a  souvenir !  ' 

The  arrangement  of  the  tables  and  the  number  of  Red 
Cross  workers  pressed  into  service  made  it  possible  to  do 
the  exchanging  on  both  sides  of  the  aisle  and  for  eight  men 
at  once,  so  the  line  was  kept  in  reasonably  constant  move- 
ment. Each  process  of  exchange,  however,  meant  count- 
ing the  money  proffered  —  this  frequently  complicated  by 
the  worn,  wrinkled  state  of  the  bills  —  reference,  to  the 
rate  table  and  then  the  counting  out  of  the  American 
equivalent.  As  speed  was  a  desideratum,  no  time  could 
be  spared  to  separate  the  English  money  into  its  denomina- 


A  DRAMA  IN  FINANCE  149 

tions.  It  was  thrown,  bills  and  silver  together,  a  rag- 
man's jumble,  into  rough  wooden  sugar  boxes  on  the  floor, 
as  fast  as  it  \v»as  received. 

"  That's  the  place  for  it,  all  right,  all  right,"  said  a 
corporal  as  he  saw  it  tossed  away.  "  I  never  could  get  the 
hang  of  the  darned  stuff,  anyhow."  And,  catching  up  the 
familiar  bills  of  his  own  country,  he  kissed  them  with  a 
resounding  smack.  "  Oh,  Baby,  come  to  your  Poppa !  ' 

The  mere  sight  of  the  American  money  was  electric  in 
its  effect.  The  men  in  the  oncoming  line  craned  their 
necks  to  give  it  slangy  greeting  and  grinned  and  joked 
over  it  as  they  shuffled  out,  rustling  the  Treasury  notes 
beneath  one  another's  noses.  "  You  can  quit  kiddin'  your- 
self now,  Shorty ;  you've  got  some  real  money  —  that's 
right,  feel  'em,  Bo ;  feel  'em  —  now  you  know  you're  go- 
ing home,  don't  you  ? ' 

There  was  little  apparent  interest,  at  least  in  those 
first  moments,  in  the  amount  they  had  received,  every- 
thing else  being  quite  secondary  to  their  actual  posses- 
sion of  money  that  "  talked '  to  them  in  a  voice  they 
had  not  heard  for  many  months.  The  restriction  of  ex- 
change to  two  pounds  for  each  man  bothered  them  not 
at  all,  and  for  good  reason.  They  simply  took  their  places 
again  in  the  queue  and  presented  themselves  and  an- 
other two  pounds  when  their  turns  came !  And  so  on,  to 
the  very  bottom  of  their  pockets. 

While  this  solved  a  problem  for  the  men  there  came  a 
time  that  day  when  it  created  almost  a  financial  panic  in 
the  storehouse.  Just  after  noon  it  was  discovered  that  at 
this  rate  of  business  the  American  dollars  would  last  prob- 
ably an  hour  longer.  And  then  what,  with  a  line  of  ex- 
pectant men  stretching  a  hundred  yards  from  the  door- 
way? Money  from  London  was  out  of  the  question; 
money  from  somewhere  was  an  absolute  necessity  —  and 
at  once ! 

Mrs.  Elsee,  desperately  busy  at  one  of  the  tables,  sud- 
denly jumped  up,  pushed  what  remained  of  her  dwindling 


150  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

pile  to  the  worker  nearest  her  and  darted  out  of  the 
storehouse.  Around  the  corner  a  Red  Cross  driver  was 
tinkering  with  his  car.  Mrs.  Elsee  ran  to  him  and  said, 
in  .the  haste  of  deadly  earnest,  "  Please  do  that  after  you 
get  back,  hut  take  me  now  as  fast  as  you  can  to  the 
biggest  bank  in  Liverpool.  I've  got  to  get  some  money  for 
the  men." 

Twenty  minutes  later  at  Parr's  Bank  she  startled  the 
foreign  exchange  manager  out  of  years  of  unruffled  calm 
by  the  headlong  announcement : 

"  I  want  all  the  American  money  you  have  " —  and  then 
— "  How  much  have  you  ? ' 

The  manager  put  on  his  glasses,  took  them  off  again 
and  replied,  "  Well  —  er  —  that  is,  I  mean  to  say,  we  have 
—  er  —  about  thirty-five  thousand  dollars,  but  — " 

"  I  want  it  all,  then  —  and  you'll  let  me  have  it  just 
as  quickly  as  you  can,  won't  you  ? '  Mrs.  Elsee  beamed 
at  him. 

"  Yes,  I  see,  but  —  to  be  quite  regular,  you  know  — 
what  kind  of  money  do  you  wish  to  give  in  exchange  — 
or  do  you  wish  to  deposit  securities  for  the  amount  ?  It's 
quite  large,  you  know."  He  joined  the  tips  of  his  fingers 
and  beamed  back  at  her. 

"  I  haven't  any  money  at  all  to  give  in  exchange," 
Mrs.  Elsee  explained  in  the  high  note  of  despair,  "  and 
I  didn't  have  time  to  bring  any  securities.  But  I  must 
have  the  money.  It's  for  the  American  soldiers  who  are 
going  home!  ' 

"  Ah,  yes,  but,"  and  on  went  the  eye  glasses  for  emphasis, 
"  we  don't  give  out  money,  thirty-five  thousand  dollars, 
for  example,  to  —  that  is  —  to  any  young  lady  who  chances 
to  ask  for  it.  It  isn't  done,  I  assure  you."  He  smiled 
through  the  wicket  in  both  friendliness  and  finality. 

"  I'm  afraid  you  don't  understand,"  Mrs.   Elsee  per- 
sisted.    "  I'm  a  member  of  the  American  Red  Cross  - 
we're  changing  the  English  money  for  the  men  at  Knotty 
Ash.     It  isn't  for  me,  you  know.     I'll  pay  you  for  it  to- 


A  DRAMA  IN  FINANCE  151 

morrow.  It's  for  the  American  Red  Cross.  Please  let 
me  have  it." 

"  On  what  security  ? '  the  banker  asked,  his  eyebrows 
high  over  his  glasses. 

"  This,"  Mrs.  Elsee  replied,  touching  the  Red  Cross 
badge  on  her  shoulder  strap.  "  And  my  receipt  for  it," 
she  added. 

The  manager,  intrigued  into  a  smile,  pondered  a 
moment,  his  keen  eyes  searching  her  face.  Then,  with- 
out so  much  as  another  question,  he  told  her  that  the  bank 
would  be  very  glad  indeed  to  give  her  the  thirty-five  thou- 
sand dollars,  and  would  she  be  kind  enough  to  affix  her 
name  to  a  receipt  for  the  amount  ? 

Mrs.  Elsee,  in  whose  ears  the  impatient  throbbing  of  the 
car  at  the  door  had  never  ceased  to  beat,  caught  up  the 
bit  of  paper  upon  which  the  still  smiling  official  hastily 
penned  the  date  and  the  amount,  and  signed  in  the  name 
of  the  American  Red  Cross  what  was  in  all  likelihood  the 
most  remarkable  receipt  for  money  ever  accepted  by  an 
English  bank.  And  in  another  twenty  minutes,  with  the 
precious  money  under  her  arm,  she  was  back  in  the  Red 
Cross  storehouse. 

"  It's  all  right,  I've  got  it !  '  she  cried  out  cheerily  as 
she  dumped  it  down  on  a  table  and  tore  off  the  wrappings. 
"  Now  we  can  change  all  the  money  you  boys  have,"  she 
announced  to  the  soldiers,  adding,  with  a  wise  smile, 
"  After  this  you'll  not  have  to  get  in  line  two  or  three 
times !  '  Ajid  the  laugh  that  followed  convicted  at  least 
five  men  in  the  room. 

Until  7  o'clock  that  evening  the  exchanging  went  on 
unceasingly.  By  that  time  the  litter  of  money  was  deep 
in  the  sugar  boxes  and  marked  inroads  had  been  made 
upon  the  mounds  of  American  bills  and  silver  on  the 
tables.  More  than  four  thousand  men  —  by  an  officer's 
estimate  —  had  passed  through  the  exchange  and  they 
had  taken  out  with  them  just  a  little  less  than  forty-one 
thousand  American  dollars. 


152  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

The  Red  Cross  workers  "  shut  up  shop  '  for  the'  day 
by  squeezing  the  pound  and  ten-shilling  notes  and  British 
silver  indiscriminately  into  empty  "  Comfort  bags  '  and, 
with  the  remaining  American  currency  stowed  in  the  at- 
tache cases,  started  wearily  for  their  hotel.  The  day's 
work,  however,  was  by  no  means  at  an  end.  There  re- 
mained, after  dinner,  the  tedious  task  of  separating  and 
counting  the  rag-bag  of  English  money.  This  was  done 
in  the  bedroom  of  one  of  the  workers  and  required  four 
hours  of  monotonous  labor.  And,  as  a  further  impost, 
the  one  chosen  to  guard  the  accumulated  treasure  had 
to  sleep  as  best  he  could  with  one  eye  open. 

But,  bright  and  early  next  morning,  the  "  Dollar  Ex- 
change '  was  in  action  again,  with  another  and  even 
longer  queue  of  eager  soldiers  stretching  away  from  its 
door.  Eor  this  day's  requirement  there  was  ample  provi- 
sion of  funds,  as  Captain  Bridges,  eternally  at  it  in 
London,  had  gathered  in  sixty-two  thousand  dollars  more 
and  hurried  it  to  Knotty  Ash  by  Miss  Marjorie  Taylor, 
one  of  the  staff  of  his  department.  Miss  Taylor,  who  de- 
clared her  conviction  that  every  one  in  the  train  knew 
exactly  what  she  had  in  her  leather  case  and  only  awaited 
her  dropping  off  to  sleep,  delivered  her  charge  with  a  pro- 
found sigh.  "  Now,"  she  said,  "  I  can  draw  my  first  deep 
breath  for  six  hours ! ? 

As  the  work  went  on  the  flow  of  money  increased,  the 
Liverpool  banks  contributing  their  large  share  and  bring- 
ing the  amount  collected  from  all  sources  in  a  single  day, 
the  21st  of  November,  to  more  than  seventy-three  thou- 
sand dollars  —  and  this  was  only  the  third  day  of  the 
new  enterprise ! 

Under  the  inspiration  of  such  success,  the  Red  Cross 
exchange  at  once  took  on  not  only  the  conversion  of  all 
the  money  the  soldiers  had,  but  of  the  officers'  pay  as 
well  and  the  cashing  of  Quartermaster  and  personal 
cheques,  bank  drafts  and  American,  English,  and  Inter- 
national money  orders.  The  storehouse  had  become  a 


A  DRAMA  IN  FINANCE  153 

bank!  Instead  of  proffering  two  pounds  the  men  now 
came  forward  with  thirty  or  forty  pounds  apiece  in  some 
instances,  and  received  their  equivalent  in  American 
money.  And  whenever  it  was  learned  that  a  soldier, 
through  detachment  from  his  unit  and  consequent  failure 
to  receive  pay,  was  going  back  with  empty  pockets,  he  was 
told  by  the  Red  Cross  that  his  signature  was  good  for 
five  dollars  if  he  wished  them,  and  that  he  could  return 
the  money  after  he  reached  home  and  "  got  everything 
straightened  up." 

As  a  token  of  the  unquestioning  trustfulness  with 
which  this  entire  service  was  received,  many  officers  and 
men  who  had  bank  accounts  in  England  drew  cheques  for 
the  balances  due  them  in  the  name  of  one  or  another  of 
the  Eed  Cross  workers  in  the  exchange,  merely  asking  that 
the  money  be  collected,  converted,  and  forwarded  to  them  in 
America.  A  number  of  them  signed  cheques  in  blank, -un- 
certain as  to  the  exact  amount  which  remained  banked 
to  their  credit.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  they  wished  these 
personal  cheques  cashed  at  once,  it  was  done  without  hesi- 
tation. No  service  of  any  kind  could  have  been  broader 
or  more  considerate ;  certainly  none  was  more  appreciated. 

It  was  in  the  second  day  of  its  unfolding  at  Knotty 
Ash,  that  this  magic  drama,  played  until  then  in  so  high 
and  dominating  a  key  of  comedy,  struck  sharply  away 
from  it  and  all  its  noisy  movement.  The  three  troop- 
ships, Lapland,  Minnekalida,  and  Mauretania,  then  lying 
in  readiness  at  their  piers  in  Liverpool,  were  to  take  back 
to  America  not  only  the  men  who  had  filled  the  storehouses 
with  their  jesting  and  laughter,  but  a  long  roster  of  sick 
and  wounded,  many  of  them  helpless  in  their  cots.  These, 
to  the  capacity  of  the  transports,  had  been  told  off  from 
the  hospitals  at  Tottenham,  Dartford,  Sarisbury  Court, 
Paignton,  Hursley  Park,  and  Mossley  Hill  and  brought 
with  all  reasonable  haste  to  Knotty  Ash  where  they  were 
to  have  a  brief  rest  before  the  voyage. 

Those  among  them  who  were  "  walking  cases,"  that  is, 


154.  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

convalescents  from  illness  or  from  wounds  or  operations  — 
for  a  number  belonged  to-  units  which  had  been  brigaded 
with  the  British  on  the  Western  Front  —  could,  and  did, 
go  to  the  storehouse  for  the  exchange  of  their  pounds  and 
shillings.  But  there  were  many,  less  fortunate  in  the 
chances  of  war,  the  men  in  their  cots,  to  whom  this  was 
an  immediately  recognized  impossibility.  As  the  obliga- 
tion to  them  was  even  greater  than  to  the  others,  a  detail 
was  chosen  from  the  "  Dollar  Exchange '  staff  and  sent 
with  an  ample  equipment  of  American  money,  to  make  the 
rounds  of  the  hospital  wards. 

Then  it  was,  for  these  players  at  least,  that  all  the  drama 
changed  in  an  instant.  Instead  of  the  dusty  storehouse 
and  the  hilarious  soldier  crew  with  its  rough  drolleries, 
its  joyous  profanity  at  faring  home  and  its  endless  tramp, 
tramp  of  heavy  boots  between  the  busy  tables,  here  was 
the  sudden  silence  of  long,  clean  rooms  wherein  men  lay 
motionless  on  their  cots,  the  very  remembrance  of  move- 
ment challenged  by  their  bandages,  and  all  of  them  heavy 
eyed  with  the  weariness  of  pain  and  monotony ;  no  sounds 
about  them  save  a  nurse's  quiet  voice,  the  tinkle  of  a  glass, 
her  guarded  footfall  and  the  rustle  of  her  skirt  as  she 
passed. 

When,  into  the  first  of  the  wards,  the  Red  Cross  workers 
came  and  the  men  were  told  of  their  errand,  there  was  a 
stirring  that  ran  like  -a  whisper  through  the  room  and 
then  —  but  the  story  comes  best  from  a  woman  who  was 
there : 

"  What  «an  unforgettable  day  that  was !  It  went  so 
deep  into  my  heart  that  I  —  Oh,  yes,  I  cried,  and  it  wasn't 
because  I  was  a  woman,  either.  Ask  the  men  who  went 
around  from  cot  to  cot,  I  know  they  felt  it  just  as  I  did. 
Many  times  after  that  I  went  to  other  hospitals  to  change 
money  for  the  men  and  always  with  a  lump  in  my  throat, 
but  I  shall  never  forget  that  first  day. 

"  We  had  decided  that  there  would  be  much  less  like- 
lihood of  confusion  or  error  if  we  went  to  each  man  in- 


A  DRAMA  IN  FINANCE  155 

divi dually,  so  two  of  us,  one  for  each  line  of  cots,  took  the 
first  ward  while  the  others  were  sent  elsewhere. 

"  On  the  cot  at  which  I  started  in  was  a  youngster  — 
he  was  from  New  Jersey,  I  think  -  -  whose  gray,  drawn 
face  was  so  woefully  at  odds  with  the  smile  he  gave  me 
that  I  hadn't  the  heart  to  begin  on  the  cold-blooded,  how- 
much-do-you-want  monev  business.  So  I  said  to  him : 

t/  *j 

"  i  I'm  glad  you're  going  home  so  soon,  aren't  you? J 

"  '  Indeed  I  am,  Sister,'  he  answered  —  they  always 
call  us  (  Sister,'  you  know  — '  even  though  I'm  taking  home 
one  less  leg  than  I  brought  over.  But  that's  all  right. 
Some  fellows  I  used  to  know  won't  ever  go  home!  ' 

"  I  knew  then  it  was  high  time  I  got  to  work,  so  I  opened 
my  bag  and  he  began  fumbling  under  his  pillow. 

"  '  I  don't  think  I'm  going  to  give  you  much  trouble,' 
he  said  with  a  funny  little  twist  to  his  mouth  as  he  drew 
out  a  flattened  cigarette  package  with  a  rubber  band  about 
it.  i  I've  only  got  a  couple  of  pounds  and  some  shillings !  ' 

"  His  deep  eyes  watched  as  I  unfolded  the  packet  and 
counted  it  out,  and  when  I  handed  the  American  monev  to 

v 

him  —  and  I  gave  as  much  of  it  as  I  could  in  one  dollar 
bills  for  a  childish  reason  which  you  can  easily  guess  — 
he  spread  it  in  his  thin  hands  and  exclaimed,  i  Gee,  Sister, 
but  these  look  like  letters  from  home ! ' 

'  As  I  got  up  to  go,  because  there  were  many  others 
waiting  and  I  had  seen  them  looking  so  eagerly  at  me,  he 
slid  a  hand  furtively  across  the  bedclothes  and  thrust  a  ten- 
cent  piece  into  my  fingers.  '  Keep  that  for  yourself,'  he 
whispered  and,  even  though  my  eyes  filled,  I  saw  him  wink 
at  me.  The  coin?  —  Yes,  I  kept  it;  I've  got  it  still.  It 
would  have  hurt  him  —  and  me  too  -  -  to  have  given  it 
back. 

'  As  I  went  from  cot  to  cot  I  might  have  been  a  Fairy 
Godmother  for  the  reception  given  to  me.  The  men  were 
so  delighted  over  the  actual,  tangible  money,  truly  a  homely 
message  to  every  one  of  them,  that  I  began  to  hear  them 
calling  to  one  another  down  the  line,  their  troubles  for  a 


156  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

time  forgotten.  ( I  didn't  think  it  would  last  till  you 
got  to  me,  Sister;  that  guy  in  the  next  cot  is  sure  some 
miser/  was,  phrased  in  a  dozen  ways,  a  favorite  greeting 
as  I  came  to  them.  One  of  the  men,  who  brought  his 
money  from  a  letter  pinned  to  the  breast  of  his  pajamas, 
confided  to  me  that  i  anybody  who  could  change  that  stuff 
into  sure  enough  money  was  his  friend  for  life.'  He  was 
from  Iowa,  he  said,  and  I  hope  he'll  remember  me  as  long 
as  I  shall  remember  him. 

"  Almost  at  the  end  of  the  range  of  cots  I  came  upon 
a  sergeant,  an  older  man  with  a  face  the  more  rugged  for 
the  new  lines  in  it  and  these  the  deeper  now  with  his  smil- 
ing. He  lay  with  the  bed  coverings  in  undisturbed,  un- 
wrinkled  folds  close  beneath  his  chin. 

"  i  Well,  we're  going  home,  aren't  we,  Sister  ? '  he  asked, 
turning  his  head  slowly  toward  me.  i  Do  you  know 
when  ? '  he  continued  as  I  nodded.  '  I  hear  I'm  booked 
for  the  Lapland.' 

"  I  told  him  she  was  all  ready  and  would  probably  leave 
in  a  day  or  two.  '  Say,  that's  fine,  isn't  it  ?  '  he  went  on, 
'  'cause  I've  got  some  folks  over  there  who'll  be  mighty 
glad  to  see  me.  You  married,  Sister?  ISTo?  I  got  a 
wife !  Yep,  looks  something  like  you,  too  —  I'm  not  kid- 
ding you.  She's  got  brown  hair  just  like  yours.  Staying 
with  her  people  just  outside  of  Pittsburgh  'til  I  get  home.' 

"  He  was  so  like  others,  eager  to  talk  about  anything 
to  one  of  his  own  country,  delighted  to  break  the  monotony 
of  endless  hours.  I  knew  he  would  keep  me  there  in- 
definitely, so  I  swung  my  money  bag  before  me  and  took 
out  a  handful  of  bills. 

"  *  I  know  you'll  want  to  take  some  of  these  home  with 
you,'  I  said,  leading  the  way  to  business,  for  a  man  in 
the  next  cot  was  making  obvious  signs  to  me  with  an 
old  black  pocketbook. 

"  '  You  bet !  '  he  replied,  with  a  bright  smile.  *  They're 
just  what  the  doctor  ordered !  ' 

"  I  waited  for  him  to  unearth  from  somewhere  the  little 


A  DRAMA  IN  FINANCE  157 

package  of  his  guarded  money,  but  he  was  evidently  think- 
ing of  other  things,  because  now  he  was  not  looking  either 
at  me  or  at  the  magnetic  bills  I  held.  Then  something, 
my  silence,  perhaps,  drew  his  face  toward  me.  l  Oh,  yes, 
the  money,'  he  said.  i  I  forgot.  I  guess  you'll  have  to 
help  me,  Sister,'  he  went  on,  '  'cause  I  can't  move.  I've 
only  got  one  arm  and  I've  lost  my  other  hand,  and  -  -,'  he 
hesitated ;  -  I  knew  now  why  he  had  not  held  out  a  hand 
to  me  in  greeting  as  the  rest  had  done  when  I  came  up  - 
'  and  if  it  isn't  any  trouble,  you'll  find  the  money  round 
my  neck  -  •  just  pull  that  string  up,  Sister.' 

"  He  put  his  head  to  one  side  and  I  found  the  string 
and  drew  up  a  little  bag  made  of  the  palm  of  an  old  kid 
glove. 

"'There  you  are!  That  was  easy,  wasn't  it?3  he 
laughed.  '  There  ought  to  be  six  or  seven  pounds  in  it, 
and  some  other  things.  Dump  'em  out.' 

"  I  emptied  the  bag  on  the  cot  -  -  seven  pounds  and  eight 
shillings,  a  pair  of  silver  cuff  buttons  and,  wrapped  in  a 
torn  bit  of  tissue  paper,  a  small  gold  brooch  set  with  an 
amethyst.  And  all  of  them  warm  from  their  contact  with 
him. 

"  While  I  was  counting  out  the  American  money  due 
him  I  could  feel  his  eyes  upon  my  face.  Of  the  hundreds 
for  whom  I  had  done  this  service  he  was  the  first  whose 
sole  attention  was  not  upon  the  transaction.  As  I  folded 
the  bills  and  was  about  to  tuck  them  into  the  bag  he 
stopped  me. 

"  '  Wait  a  minute,  Sister  —  you  certainly  do  look  like 
my  girl  —  what's  your  name  ?  -  -  will  you  tell  me  ?  ' 

"  I  told  him  and,  quite  unconnectedly,  he  said,  nodding 
toward  the  bag,  (  That's  a  dandy  pin,  isn't  it  ?  '  and,  with- 
out awaiting  my  answer,  he  added,  as  if  to  give  the  trinket 
greater  value,  '  I  bought  it  off  a  British  Tommy  up  near 
Cambrai  -  -  it  would  look  mighty  good  on  you,  Sister  - 
how  would  you  like  to  have  a  pin  like  that?  '  He  smiled 
with  a  great  expectancy.  -  Something  to  remember  - 


158  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

"  I  suppose  I  gulped,  as  I  did  over  the  ten-cent  piece, 
but  I  cut  him  short.  It  wasn't  pleasant  to  see  the  smile 
die  on  his  lips,  when  I  swore  to  him  that  I  had  a  brooch 
almost  exactly  like  it,  even  to  the  amethyst,  but  it  was  the 
only  thing  I  could  think  to  say.  He  helped  me  out  after 
an  uncomfortable  pause  with,  (  That's  too  bad,  Sister,  I'm 
sorry  —  but  never  miiid,  put  'em  all  back  —  and  thanks 
—  it's  good  to  be  going  home,  isn't  it  ?  —  even  the  way 
I'm  going  — ! ? 

"  I  touched  his  cheek  just  a  moment  in  an  answer  I  hope 
he  understood  and  tucked  the  bag  about  his  neck  and  went 
on  my  way  with  another  lump  in  my  throat. 

"  For  all  the  heart-wrenching  it  gave  me,  it  was  wonder- 
ful to  go  down  that  line  of  men  and  talk  with  them  and 
help  them.  Money-changing  may  seem  a  strange  form  of 
hospital  ministration,  but  I  feel  that  every  dollar  I  took 
with  me  did  its  bit  and  was  veritable  medicine  to  those  un- 
fortunates. And  I  can  tell  you  that,  time  and  time  again, 
it  was  all  I  could  do  to  match  their  brave  cheerfulness. 
I  paid  as  much  out  of  my  heart  as  I  did  out  of  my  money 
case. 

"  The  last  boy  of  all  was  shadow-thin.  He  looked  like 
an  Italian.  His  eyes  were  burning  in  his  dark  face.  As 
soon  as  I  was  beside  him  he  clutched  my  hand  in  both  of 
his  and  half  rose  from  his  pillow.  A  nurse,  who  had  paused 
for  a  moment  at  the  foot  of  his  cot,  came  behind  me  and 
put  her  hand  to  his  forehead,  gently  pressing  him  back. 
'  You're  better  to-day,  aren't  you  ?  '  she  asked,  giving  his 
pillow  a  pat-pat.  '  You'll  be  all  right  in  no  time !  '  And, 
as  she  went  by  me  again  she  whispered  in  sick-room  code, 
'  Excitable  —  been  terribly  ill  —  typhoid  —  bundle  of 


nerves.' 


"  '  What  did  she  say,  Miss  ? '  he  asked  me  in  quick  sus- 
picion as  the  nurse  went  out. 

"  '  Only  that  you  were  getting  well,'  I  replied,  and  I 
felt  his  clasp  tighten  as  I  started  to  draw  my  hand  away. 

"  '  Am  I,  Sister  ?  —  I  dunno, —  I  don't  feel  right,  some- 


A  DRAMA  IN  FINANCE  159 

how !  '     He   looked   up   at   me    in   bewilderment.     '  The 
doctor  says  I'm  doing  fine.     I  don't  hear  the  guns  any 


more.' 


"  '  Yes,  and  you're  going  home,  too/  I  assured  him, 
this  time  disengaging  my  hand  and  opening  my  horribly 
material  money  case. 

"  I  know  I  am.'  He  stopped  and  looked  about  to  see  if 
any  one  listened,  then  added  in  a  low  voice,  '  But  somehow 
I  don't  feel  like  I'm  ever  going  to  get  there  — ' 

"  Why,  of  course  you  are !  '  I  exclaimed  with  all  the 
conviction  I  could  muster,  for  I  knew  he  believed  what  he 
said.  i  And  you're  going  to  take  home  some  real  money, 
too  —  the  kind  you  know  all  about !  ' 

"  This  formula  had  never  failed  of  its  interest,  especially 
when  I  simultaneously  produced  a  packet  of  bills.  But 
the  boy  didn't  take  it  in  just  the  way  I  hoped. 

"  i  Yes,  I  want  to  talk  to  you  about  that/  he  said 
thoughtfully.  '  I've  got  some  money  here  ' —  he  drew  a 
rubber  tobacco  pouch  from  under  the  covers  and  put  it 
in  my  hand  — '  but  I'm  not  going  to  take  it  with  me  — 
I  want  you  to  send  it  home  for  me  —  you  understand, 
don't  you  ?  —  If  7  don't  get  home,  that  will  —  see  ?  —  I 
got  a  mother  home.' 

"  There  was  a  wistfulness  and  an  earnestness  in  the 
request  against  which  I  couldn't  prevail,  however  I  argued 
with  him.  His  worn  pouch  held  nearly  fourteen  pounds, 
and  when  I  had  exchanged  them  he  would  take  only  a  few 
dollars,  all  the  rest  were  to  be  sent  to  America.  So  I 
wrote  down  the  directions  as  he  gave  them  to  me  and  put 
them  with  his  money.  As  I  moved  away  from  him  he 
hung  tight  to  my  hand  and  suddenly  drew  it  down  and 
kissed  it  —  and  when  I  took  it  away  there  was  a  tear  on 
the  back  of  it.  I  glanced  over  my  shoulder  as  I  hurried 
to  the  doorway,  but  everything  was  so  blurred  I  couldn't 
see  him.  I  never  did  see  him  again  but  he  got  home  safely. 
I  know  that  because  his  mother  wrote  to  thank  me  for  — 
well,  for  nothing  at  all." 


160  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

It  required  the  greater  part  of  the  day  to  complete  the 
rounds  of  the  hospital  wards  and  then  the  workers  wenifc 
back,  with  no  little  relief,  to  the  comedy  of  the  storehouse 
which  had  been  playing  merrily  on  in  their  absence.  A 
broad  canvas  sign,  "  American  Red  Cross  Dollar  Ex- 
change," was  now  hung  on  the  outer  wall  and  an  additional 
exchange  table  set  up  for  business  beneath  it.  Orders  had 
been  issued  that  the  Lapland,  the  first  troopship  to  sail 
from  England  home-bound  after  the  Armistice,  must  cast 
off  on  the  morning  of  November  24  and  the  MinnekaJida 
and  Mauretania  as  soon  as  possible  thereafter.  This  made 
it  necessary  to  rush  the  exchange  work  and  it  was  done 
with  such  dispatch  that  when  the  Lapland  put  off  on  the 
appointed  day  with  the  Minnekahda  an  hour  astern  of  her 
and  the  Mauretania  on  the  following  morning,  every 
soldier  aboard  them  had  had  his  money  changed  and  was  at 
ease  on  that  score  at  least. 

As  the  work  grew,  the  burden  of  carrying  the  money 
back  and  forth  between  the  camp  and  the  hotel  in  town 
grew  with  it  until  the  Manager  of  the  Foreign  Depart- 
ment of  Parr's  Bank  in  Liverpool  came  to  the  rescue 
with  the  generous  offer  of  a  safe.  This  was  transported  to 
the  storehouse  and  Lieutenant  Colonel  Launcelot  M.  Pur- 
cell,  Q.  M.  C.,  the  army  officer  in  command  at  Knotty 
Ash,  provided  a  night  sentry  detail  to  guard  it.  Also  he 
invited  the  women  workers  in  the  exchange  to  the  officers' 
mess  for  luncheon  and  put  a  happy  end  to  their  biscuit- 
and-cold-^ea  makeshift  even  if  he  did  create  something  of 
a  sensation  in  the  mess. 

The  comedy  of  the  exchange  received  a  decided  fillip 
when  a  negro  labor  battalion  arrived.  It  was  a  happy-go- 
lucky  crowd  until  the  question  of  money  arose,  and  then 
the  men  were  caution  itself,  even  while  they  joked  over 
it.  Very  few  were  inclined  to  offer  at  once  all  the  money 
they  had.  Perhaps  they  wanted  to  sample,  as  it  were,  the 
services  of  the  exchange  before  committing  themselves. 
Perhaps  they  preferred  that  the  next  man  in  line  should 


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A  DRAMA  IN  FINANCE  161 

not  know  thoir  exact  financial  status,  for  sheer  human 
curiosity  invariably  prompted  every  man  to  watch  his 
neighbor's  transaction.  At  any  rate,  most  of  them  began 
by  laying  down  ten  shillings  or  a  pound,  as  if  they  were 
buvinff  an  admission  ticket,  and  when  the  Red  Cross 

i  O 

worker  had  made  the  exchange,  which  the  recipients  duly 
counted  and  stowed  away,  out  of  another  pocket  would 
come  another  pound.  Xot  infrequently  four  or  five  such 
installments  would  appear,  each  as  an  unexpected  discovery 
and  tendered  with  a  wider  grin.  It  augmented  the  work 
of  the  exchange  people  but  more  than  once  the  comments 
it  provoked  from  the  waiting  line  were  ample  payment. 
One  "  customer '  who  held  up  the  column  while  he  ex- 
tracted bills  and  silver  from  his  pockets,  his  cap,  even  his 
shoe,  was  asked  by  one  behind  him  in  a  voice  which  almost 
broke  in  its  pathos,  "  Say,  man,  is  you  bleedin  money  ? ' 

Another  favorite  habit  among  them  was  the  presentation 
with  their  money  of  a  slip  of  paper  on  which  they  had 
carefully  worked  out  the  exchange.  But  it  was  nearly 
always  wrong  and  then  usually  to  their  own  disadvantage. 
"  Yaas,  Miss  -  -  thanky,  Miss.  This  here  English  'rith- 
metic  kinda  bent  under  me,  didn'  it  ? ; 

While  the  aggregate  of  money  in  the  battalion  was  not- 
ably high  it  was  spread  very  thinly  in  places.  Many  of 
the  men  had  only  a  few  shillings  while  others  offered 
as  much  as  forty  or  fifty  pounds.  Noting  this,  as  well 
as  the  comment  of  those  near  by  when  one  of  them  offered 
for  exchange  nearly  four  hundred  pounds,  it  was  readily 
deducible  that  baseball  was  not  the  only  American  pastime 
which  had  been  carried  to  England  to  flourish  on  her 
soil. 

"  Oh,  you  bones !  " 

This  was  the  first  of  the  illuminating  comments  on  the 
four  hundred  pounds  and  it  lighted  the  way  for  others 
in  the  waiting  line. 

"  He  did  n'  shoot  no  Germans,  but  he  cert'n'y  did  shoot 
ev'ybody  else !  ' 


162  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

"  Nem-mind,  we'll  git  dat  nigger  when  he  gits  on  de 
boat !  " 

"  Not  me,  boy ;  nosuh  —  any  coon  what  can  shoot  de 
works  and  five  twice  —  nosuh  —  not  me  !  J 

The  unperturbed  object  of  all  this  folded  and  creased 
his  American  dollars  with  marked  deliberation  and  tucked 
them  deep  in  his  pocket.  Then  he  turned,  looked  down 
the  line,  and  said  in  slow,  fine  scorn: 

"  On  de  boat,  hey  ?  Zasso?  Why  that's  when  I'm  g'on 
t'git  de  income  tax  outer  you ! '  And  he  laughed  himself 
all  the  way  out  of  the  storehouse. 

As  the  capacity  of  Knotty  Ash  was  40,000  men,  other 
camps  and  hospitals  "  cleared  7  through  it  in  returning 
their  contingents  to  the  States,  so,  for  a  long  time,  a  con- 
stant stream  of  soldiers  flowed  in  and  out  of  the  "  Dollar 
Exchange."  The  numbers  which  arrived  made  such 
heavy  demand  upon  the  enterprise  that  in  addition  to  the 
sums  the  London  and  Liverpool  banking,  express  and 
brokerage  houses  were  able  to  furnish,  it  was  necessary 
to  seek  the  aid  of  many  Scotch,  Welsh,  and  Irish  financial 
concerns.  Days  in  which  the  exchange  amounted  to  forty 
thousand  dollars  were  by  no  means  uncommon.  In  the 
first  six  weeks  of  the  existence  of  the  "  Dollar  Exchange  ' 
at  Knotty  Ash  alone,  the  transactions  in  American  money 
totaled  more  than  $450,850  ! 

It  was  when  the  troopships  were  about  to  sail  that  the 
exchange  staff  was  put  to  its  utmost  effort,  for  its  work 
had  to  be  accomplished  not  only  as  quickly  as  possible  but 
without  interfering  with  the  ordered  routine  of  embarka- 
tion. The  day  before  the  Leviathan,  once  the  boast  of 
Germany's  merchant  marine,  sailed  from  Liverpool  on 
her  first  post-war  voyage,  it  was  necessary  for  the  Red 
Cross  workers  to  take  their  bags  of  money  aboard  and  tour 
the  decks  in  order  to  finish  their  task.  Everything  went 
well  until  it  was  discovered  that  two  thousand  naval  avia- 
tion men  had  been  marched  to  the  ship  without  an  oppor- 
tunity of  having  their  English  money  changed.  At  that 


A  DRAMA  IN  FINANCE  163 

moment  only  seven  thousand  American  dollars  remained, 
so  Lieutenant  D.  E.  Shumaker,  Auditor  of  the  Red  Cross, 
who  had  now  taken  charge  of  the  exchange  work  at  Knotty 
Ash,  went  on  a  dead  run  to  Parr's  Bank  and  "  borrowed  ' 
twenty-three  thousand  dollars  on  an  "  I.  O.  U."  When  he 
returned,  the  situation  was  further  saved  by  Paymaster 
Harris  of  the  ship,  who  lent  his  office  to  the  Red  Cross  so 
that  the  soldiers  and  sailors  might  be  formed  in  a  queue 
and  paid  through  his  window. 

The  Leviathan's  company  included  1,500  sick  and 
wounded  men,  of  whom  more  than  a  hundred  were 
stretcher  cases  from  hospitals  in  the  Winchester  area. 
These  had  been  carried  directly  from  their  train  to  the 
ship  and  as  soon  as  they  were  placed  in  the  sick  bay,  two 
of  the  workers  were  sent  below  to  go  from  cot  to  cot  with 
the  money  cases. 

From  noon,  when  the  work  was  begun,  the  corps  of 
cashiers  kept  at  it  until  half-past  eleven  o'clock  that  night. 
Two  armed  men  were  then  assigned  to  accompany  the 
Red  Cross  party  on  its  long  journey  to  the  hotel  in  the 
city  and  stayed  there  the  night  on  guard.  At  7.30  next 
morning,  which  was  December  4,  the  little  band  hastened 
back  to  the  ship  and  there  found  three  of  Paymaster 
Harris'  assistants  asleep  on  chairs  in  his  office !  They  had 
volunteered  to  sit  up  all  night  in  order  to  finish  the  work 
put  aside  when  the  office  was  so  graciously  lent  to  the 
Red  Cross. 

The  Leviathan  sailed  at  10.15  o'clock  that  day  and  only 
ten  minutes  before  that  time  did  the  exchange  workers 
close  their  bags  and  slip  over  -the  side.  And  one  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars  were  all  that  remained  of  the  thousands 
in  American  money  they  had  taken  aboard. 

But  at  least  a  week  before  the  Leviathan  put  off  the 
"  Dollar  Exchange '  had  outgrown  Knotty  Ash.  The 
army,  delighted  with  the  success  of  this  cooperation,  had 
sent  word  that  the  men  were  to  be  paid  off  at  other  rest 
stations  and  hospitals,  Tottenham,  Dartford,  Winchester, 


164  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

Paignton,  Portsmouth ;  "  and  would  not  the  Red  Cross, 
etc. —  etc."  Sometimes  the  request  was  supplemented  by 
some  such  announcement  as,  "  the  men  are  to  be  paid  off 
this  afternoon  as  they  sail  at  4  o'clock  to-morrow  morn- 
ing." This  allowed  little  enough  time  for  all  that  had 
to  be  done,  but  with  the  arrival  of  three  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  in  new  $1,  $2  and  $5  bills  in  a  stout  box  from 
America  on  December  9,  the  problem  was  much  simplified. 
Incidentally,  the  box  was  held  up  for  a  time  by  the  British 
Customs  officials  who  cited  against  it  a  charge  of  seven 
and  a  half  per  cent  of  its  value  until  they  learned  the 
destined  use  of  the  money,  when  it  was  immediately  re- 
leased and  forwarded  to  London.  It  arrived,  fortunately, 
at  a  time  in  which  the  English  supply  of  American  cur- 
rency was  almost  exhausted. 

Now  squads  of  cashiers  could  be  dispatched  post-haste 
in  answer  to  every  call  from  the  Chief  Quartermaster, 
visits  were  made  to  all  the  London  hospitals  and  a  general 
notice  was  issued  that  the  "  Dollar  Exchange '  in  Red 
Cross  Headquarters  in  Grosvenor  Gardens  was  always 
"  open  for  business."  Officers  and  men  on  their  way  to 
France  made-  frequent  use  of  it  and  even  one  day  a  soldier 
came  in  to  ask  if  he  could  buy  a  three-cent  silver  piece, 
"  for  a  young  lady's  coin  collection." 

The  increased  activities  of  the  money  exchange  often 
meant  long  night  or  day  journeys,  both  week  days  and  Sun- 
days, at  scarcely  more  than  a  moment's  notice.  But  what- 
ever tasks  the  undertaking  imposed,  they  were  always  per- 
formed with  prompt  cheerfulness,  with  no  thought  of  self, 
even  when  they  carried  the  workers  into  the  contagion 
wards  of  hospitals,  :as  they  sometimes  did.  Too  much 
cannot  be  said  of  the  capable  and  altogether  faithful  serv- 
ice given  by  the  young  women  of  the  Red  Cross-  Depart- 
ment of  Finance  —  Mrs.  Elsee,  Miss  Taylor,  Miss 
Christine  Lefrere,  Miss  Kathleen  King,  Miss  Queenie 
ll.askins,  Miss  Winifred  St.  George,  Miss  Kathleen  Challis 


A  DRAMA  IN  FINANCE  165 

-  and  of  many  others  who  did  their  so  valuable  share  in 
making  the  u  Dollar  Exchange  '    a  success. 

This  chronicle  would  not  be  complete  without  reference 
to  two  other  "  adventures  "  of  the  lied  Cross  Finance  De- 
partment. 

When  the  American  troops  were  ready  for  dispatch  to 
Archangel  in  the  summer  of  1918,  Captain  Bridges  was 
asked  if  he  wouldn't  look  about  and  get  some  Russian 
rubles  for  them. 

"  I  looked  about,"  Captain  Bridges  said  afterward  in 
narrating  the  incident,  "  and  it  made  me  dizzy.  The  rate 
for  rubles  was  going  up  and  down  like  a  slide  trombone. 
The  first  day  I  took  a  look  you  could  buy  268  rubles  for 
ten  pounds.  When  I  looked  again  next  day  you  could 
get  420  !  And,  mind  you,  there  were  two  kinds  of  rubles, 
the  Kerensky  kind,  and  the  Imperials  which  the  Bolsheviki 
used  after  blotting  out  the  picture  of  the  Czar.  They  kept 
going  up  and  down  quite  independently  of  each  other  -  -  it 
was  like  watching  a  juggler  toss  balls  in  the  air.  I  kept 
close  to  the  ground  and  when  one  came  down  I  bought  it. 
In  this  way  I  collected  a  mixture  of  100,000  rubles  and 
handed  them  over  to  the  soldiers.  They  rather  sniffed 
at  them,  but  I  knew  they  would  be  good  in  Archangel, 
that  is,  if  the  troops  hurried !  J 

The  second  episode  deals  with  a  box  of  Roumanian  lei. 
When  Lieutenant  Colonel  Henry  W.  Anderson,  who  is 
now  Red  Cross  Commissioner  to  the  Balkans,  was  Com- 
missioner to  Roumania  and  had  to  hasten  away  from  the 
uncertainties  of  life,  liberty  and  Red  Cross  pursuits  there, 
he  managed  to  bring  out  'a  boxful  of  lei.  This  was  turned 
over  to  the  Red  Cross  in  London  for  conversion  into 
English  money.  The  lei  market  was  almost  as  frisky  as 
that  for  rubles,  the  value  dancing  up  and  down  on  both 
sides  of  nineteen  cents.  Again  Captain  Bridges  had  to 
keep  a  weather  eye  cocked,  and  by  watching  the  rate  and 


166  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

biding  his  time  he  was  able  eventually  to  dispose  of  the 
boxful  for  £120,000  —  approximately  $600,000  —  but  not 
before  he  had  collected  £2,000  in  interest  on  it  during  its 
sojourn  in  the  bank ! 

"  The  American  Eed  Cross  has  bought  American  dollars, 
French  and  Belgian  francs,  Danish  kroner,  Russian  rubles, 
Dutch  florins,  Italian  lire,  and  Eoumanian  lei ! ' '  Captain 
Bridges  exclaimed  one  day.  "  And  I'm  only  waiting  now 
for  some  one  to  send  in  an  order  for  Zulu  cowries !  " 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE    "  SHEPHEED  '      AT    LIVERPOOL 

WHEN  men  go  forth  to  war  they  not  infrequently 
return  with  wives.  (See  page  1,  volume  I  of 
the  history  of  any  war.)  In  olden  times  they  were  brought 
home,  either  in  chains  —  for  there  was  nothing  cliic  in  be- 
ing wayward  in  those  days  —  or  else  all  smiles  on  gayly 
caparisoned  steeds,  caracoling  beside  their  masters'  charg- 
ers. At  all  events  they  were  brought  and  some  lived 
happily  ever  after. 

When  the  United  States  forces  turned  homeward  from 
the  battle  regions  of  Europe,  the  custom  was  too  well- 
recognized  to  be  ignored.  They  followed  it  —  with  a 
variation;  they  did  not  bear  their  wives  home,  that  is, 
not  many.  They  sent  for  them. 

It  was  by  reason  of  this  modern  amendment  to  a  vener- 
able practice  that  the  American  Red  Cross  came  to  play 
an  important  role  in  behalf  of  a  large  number  of  the 
soldiers  and  sailors  of  our  oversea  legions.  It  did  not 
furnish  caparisoned  palfreys,  but  it  did  supply  smiles  and 
smoothed  the  way  for  the  far-faring  of  these  wives  to  the 
husbands  who  awaited  them  in  the  States.  In  more  than 
one  instance  it  turned  dismay  into  laughter  and  mirac- 
ulously proved  that  a  five-pound  note  could  appear  among 
the  few  hoarded  shillings  tied  in  the  corner  of  a  tear-sodden 
handkerchief. 

The  marriage  of  these  soldiers  and  sailors  was  in- 
evitable, particularly  among  those  remaining  long  at  one 
encampment  or  station.  And  just  as  inevitable  was  the 
difficulty  of  getting  the  brides  back  to  America.  Rules 

were,  of  necessity,  very  rigid  in  such  a  matter.     There 

167 


168  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

was  no  question  of  a  man's  right  to  marry,  but  the  Gov- 
ernment insisted  upon  prescribing  the  terms  upon  which 
the  new  wife  might  join  her  husband.  Permission  for 
the  married  soldiers  to  take  wives  with  them  on  their  home- 
ward-bound transports  was,  as  a  practice,  obviously  out 
of  the  question.  Nor  could  such  soldiers  obtain  detach- 
ment from  their  returning  units  in  order  to  sail  by  the 
transports  which  carried  women.  Therefore,  the  only 
course  was  to  leave  the  problem  in  the  hands  of  the  Gov- 
ernment and  pray  for  patience.  The  Government's  kindly- 
intentioned  reply  was :  "  We'll  send  your  wife  to  you  as 
soon  as  a  proper  ship  is  available.77 

So,  willy-nilly,  the  soldiers  and  the  sailors  sailed  away, 
all  of  them  anxious,  many  quite  in  ignorance  of  the  con- 
ditions the  Government  would  impose  and  of  the  difficulties 
their  wives  were  to  face.  It  was  a  wretchedly  unhappy 
situation  for  every  one,  but  military  and  naval  regula- 
tions are  adamant. 

In  agreement  upon  a  common  debarkation  port  for  the 
wives  of  men  of  both  services,  the  army  and  navy  author- 
ities selected  Liverpool,  and  then  drew  up  the  governing 
regulations.  It  was  not  intended  that  these  should,  in  any 
instance,  prove  to  be  a  hardship.  Kather  was  it  intended 
as  a  safeguard,  to  prevent  deception  and  imposition. 
First  of  all,  a  woman  claiming  to  be  the  wife  of  a  soldier 
or  sailor  was  required  to  produce  indubitable  proof  of  her 
marriage,  in  addition  to  her  marriage  certificate,  and  also 
establish  the  fact  that  her  husband  desired  her  with  him 
in  America.  Thereafter,  in  turn,  she  must,  if  a  British 
subject  or  other  foreigner,  register  at  the  Alien  Bureau, 
make  a  written  or  personal  application  at  Army  or  Navy 
Headquarters  in  London  for  oversea  transportation,  show 
possession  of  at  least  five  pounds  sterling,  with  a  total 
of  funds  sufficient  to  carry  her  to  her  destination  in 
America,  and  finally  apply  to  an  American  Consul  for 
an  emergency  passport  good  for  thirty  days.  Upon  com- 
pliance with  all  these  requirements  she  then  received  an 


THE  "  SHEPHERD  "  AT  LIVERPOOL  169 

order  for  transportation  and  finally  assignment  to  a  par- 
ticular ship.  The  authorities  agreed  to  take  all  the  young 
women  to  America  passage-free,  but  exacted  from  them 
the  payment  of  one  dollar  a  day  for  maintenance  during 
the  voyage. 

As  the  greater  number  of  these  wives  were  girls,  either 
still  in  their  teens  or  just  beyond  them,  who  never  before 
in  their  lives  had  been  more  than  ten  miles  from  home, 
the  contemplation  of  a  long  journey  to  a  strange  country 
quite  appalled  them.  Their  dismay  often  robbed  them 
even  of  simple  intelligence.  They  were  like  lost  and  be- 
wildered children.  It  was  a  predicament  for  women  and 
authorities  alike. 

Perplexed  and  distraught  by  the  ever-increasing  com- 
plexities of  the  situation,  the  U.  S.  Naval  Base  at  Liver- 
pool called  upon  the  Red  Cross  one  day  late  in  February, 
1919,  to  ask  if  it  would  not  undertake  the  chaperonage  of 
these  frightened  voyagers,  help  *and  comfort  them,  do  some- 
thing to  make  the  task  happier  for  every  one.  In  re- 
sponse, Miss  Byrd  McFall,  of  Oklahoma,  one  of  the  Red 
Cross  workers,  a  self-reliant,  sisterly  young  woman,  re- 
ported at  Navy  Headquarters  in  the  Northwestern  Hotel, 
ready  to  enlist  the  Red  Cross  as  shepherd  to  the  flock. 

At  that  time  the  only  ships  available  for  the  transport 
of  the  "  military  wives '  were  the  Plattsburg,  Harris- 
burg,  and  Louisville.  Later,  however,  in  the  middle  of 
March,  seventy-five  were  dispatched  on  the  Aquitania  and 
an  equal  number  on  the  Kronprinz  FriedricJi  Wilhelm.  It 
was  then  possible  to  provide  a  ship  about  every  ten  days. 
The  problem  confronting  the  army  as  well  as  the  navy, 
was  how  to  care  for  wives  when  they  either  disobeyed  in- 
structions and  in  their  eagerness  came  to  Liverpool  far  in 
advance  of  the  designated  sailing  day  or  else,  having  re- 
ported in  time,  were  compelled  to  endure  a-  necessarily 
postponed  sailing.  Liverpool  was  crowded  —  every  one 
was  working  at  high-tension  -  -  the  women  were  an  added 
responsibility  —  -  it  was  a  problem  indeed. 


170  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

When  Miss  McFall  arrived  at  Navy  Headquarters  she 
found  more  than  a  dozen  distressed  brides.  They  were 
frightened,  sad,  excited,  or  dazed  according  to  their 
natures  and  not  one  of  them  had  the  least  idea  of  what  to 
do  for  herself  or  with  herself.  The  Naval  officer  who  had 
sought  the  aid  of  the  Red  Cross  delivered  them  into  the 
worker's  hands  with  a  look  that  hespoke  his  dilemma. 
They  were  the  wives  of  sailors  already  in  America,  they 
were  to  go  as  soon  as  possible  aboard  the  Platlsburg,  which 
was  due  to  sail  on  the  following  morning  —  and  couldn't 
something  be  done  to  cheer  'em  up  a  bit  ? 

As  a  matter  of  fact  what  that  little  party  most  needed 
just  then  was  a  woman  and  it  was  relieved  to  see  one. 
The  first  task  was  to  make  sure  that  all  papers  were  in 
order,  all  obligations  fulfilled.  The  papers  were  in  every 
way  satisfactory,  but  when  it  came  to  the  financial  require- 
ment, there  was  the  rub.  Several  of  the  women  had  only  -a 
few  pounds,  others  less  than  a  dozen  shillings.  They  were 
to  sail  to-morrow,  they  were  miles  from  home  and  friends, 
probably  their  pocket-books  held  all  they  had,  all  they  could 
get  anywhere.  So  at  once  the  Red  Cross  stepped  in  with  a 
tangible  ministration;  it  offered  to  advance  to  each  de- 
linquent a  sufficient  amount  to  bring  her  treasury  to  the 
stipulated  sum  of  five  pounds,  the  advance  to  be  deemed  a 
loan  and  receipted  for  as  such.  And  with  that  the  sun 
came  out ! 

Next  in  order  was  the  collection  of  the  luggage  of  the 
women,  rarely  more  than  a  small  hand  bag  for  each  of  them, 
the  proper  labeling  of  it  and  the  gathering  up  of  the  in- 
evitable small  almost-lef  t-behind  bundles,  and  the  squad  was 
ready  to  move.  It  was  a  long  journey  to  the  steamship  pier 
so  the  Red  Cross  engaged  a  trio  of  taxicabs,  stowed  the 
women  and  their  baggage  within  and  carried  them  off  in 
comfort.  Once  aboard  the  transport,  Miss  McFall  found 
there  seven  additional  young  women,  the  wives  of  soldiers, 
who  had,  somehow  or  other,  managed  for  themselves.  But 
only  three  of  these  had  sufficient  money  for  maintenance 


THE  "  SHEPHERD  "  AT  LIVERPOOL  171 

during  the  voyage  and  were  in  grave  distress.  But,  to  their 
amazement  and  delight,  the  Red  Cross  came  to  their  aid  as 
it  had  come  to  that  of  the  others  and  the  last  difficulty  was 
swept  away. 

The  efficiency  with  which  the  Red  Cross  managed  this 
initial  emergency  and  the  amount  of  aid  it  was  to  the 
authorities  resulted  in  placing  all  future  arrivals  under 
Red  Cross  care  during  their  stay  in  Liverpool.  In  this  way 
it  was  possible  to  obviate  the  confusion  and  errors  into 
which  these  young  women  fell  through  sheer  nervousness 
over  their  great  adventuring.  Also  the  Red  Cross  greatly 
facilitated  the  financial  matter  by  making  it  possible  for 
any  sailor  or  soldier  to  arrange  for  a  loan  for  his  wife  at  the 
time  of  his  own  departure  for  America.  Thus,  whatever 
money  she  needed  would  be  in  readiness  for  her  upon  her 
arrival  later  at  Liverpool.  Of  course  not  all  of  the  women 
were  in  need  of  guidance  or  assistance,  although  the  Red 
Cross  took  them  safely  aboard  ship  with  the  others,  but 
everyone  was  asked  to  register  her  name  and  destination  in 
the  United  States,  as  the  names  of  all  who  sailed  were  im- 
mediately cabled  to  New  York.  There  the  travelers  were 
met  by  the  Red  Cross,  taken  to  comfortable  quarters  and 
later  dispatched  to  their  destinations.  In  every  case  a 
telegram  was  sent  to  the  wife's  new  home  giving  news  of  her 
coming  and  the  hour  at  which  her  train  would  arrive.  So 
these  women  were  under  Red  Cross  care  practically  from 
the  time  they  entered  Liverpool  until  they  crossed  the 
threshold  of  the  homes  that  awaited  them  in  far  America. 

For  more  complete  and  systematic  shepherding  of  its 
charges,  the  Red  Cross  created  a  bureau  at  its  Liverpool 
headquarters,  No.  35  Dale  Street,  and  there  Miss  McFall 
established  herself.  At  first,  when  there  were  only  a  few 
applicants,  it  was  possible  to  provide  accommodations  for 
them  in  hotels  in  the  city.  Later,  however,  it  was  neces- 
sary to  obtain  quarters  for  as  many  as  forty  at  a  time,  and 
then  the  Red  Cross  set  up  a  "  home  "  or  club  in  one  of  the 
non-wards  of  the  Knotty  Ash  Camp  Hospital  on  the  out- 


172  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

skirts  of  Liverpool.  It  was  equipped  to  provide  sleeping 
facilities  for  fifty  women  and  furnished  with  a  piano, 
music,  books,  newspapers  and  magazines  —  far  more  com- 
forting than  a  hotel  room.  It  had  the  additional  advantage 
of  being  directly  opposite  the  Red  Cross  canteen  and  ar- 
rangements were  made  to  provide  meals  for  them  there. 

But  it  was  in  the  Dale  Street  room,  rather  than  in  the 
improvised  camp  "  club,"  that  one  more  clearly  realized  the 
Red  Cross  problem  and  the  patient  solution  of  it.  It  has 
been  -said,  most  of  the  hopeful  voyagers  were  young  women, 
but  in  some  instances  the  soldiers  or  sailors  had  married 
widows,  even  with  children.  One  such  "  bride  7  started 
for  her  husband  with  a  brood  of  four,  the  eldest  of  which 
was  five  years  old.  Also  a  few  of  the  young  women  had 
babies  which  their  fathers,  long  since  returned  to  America, 
had  never  seen.  Two  girls,  who  sailed  on  one  of  the  voy- 
ages of  the  Louisville,  had  children  six  or  eight  months  old 
born  after  their  fathers  had  been  invalided  home.  One 
baby  was  born  on  the  Louisville  in  April,  1910.  It  was 
appropriately  named  "  Louis  "  and  presented  with  a  purse 
of  $350  made  up  on  the  ship. 

In  the  Dale  Street  bureau  one  morning,  five  young 
women  were  in  the  reception  room,  awaiting  turn  to  be 
questioned  by  the  Red  Cross  "  Shepherdess '  to  make 
certain  that  their  papers  and  all  the  rest  of  it  were  in  ac- 
cord with  regulations.  It  was  difficult  to  look  upon  them 
as  brides  eager  to  be  off  to  their  liege-lords.  They  seemed, 
rather,  to  be  waifs,  lost  in  a  great  city.  Now  and  then 
they  talked  together  but  always  in  low  tones  and  with  con- 
stant glances  at  doors  and  at  their  small  valises  and  bundles. 
And  every  minute  or  two  one  of  them  would  begin  a  hur- 
ried, agonized  searching  of  every  pocket  and  recess  of  her 
clothing.  The  lost  was  invariably  found  and  proved  to  be 
a  paper  which,  after  perusal,  was  instantly  transferred  to 
another  hiding  place.  A  few  minutes  later  the  frenzied 
search  would  be  begun  all  over  again.  Theje  was  no  doubt 
that  these  women  were  a-quiver  with  nervousness. 


THE  "  SHEPHERD  "  AT  LIVERPOOL  173 

The  reason  for  it  was  not  obscure.  They  were  young, 
unaccustomed  to  travel,  save  of  the  most  limited  kind,  and, 
generally,  possessed  of  only  vague  understanding  of  where 
they  were  to  go  and  how.  America  was  millions  of  miles 
away,  across  a  great  ocean ;  they  were  to  be  out  of  sight  of 
land  for  days  and  days.  It  was  quite  enough  to  daunt  these 
simple  country  girls,  for  that's  what  so  many  of  them  were. 
But,  for  all  their  apprehension,  they  had  an  admirable 
hardihood  and  determination  to  face  anything  if  they  might 
only  get  to  their  husbands  in  America. 

Suddenly  the  first  girl  was  called  to  the  desk  in  the  ad- 
joining room.  She  started  forward  from  her  seat,  drop- 
ping a  bundle,  picking  it  up,  dropping  another  and  break- 
ing into  a  laugh  in  which,  for  their  own  relief,  all  the  others 
joined,  as  she  passed  out.  She  was  of  the  type  that  is 
slender  but  strong,  with  bright,  clear  eyes,  a  ruddy  English 
color  and  had  evidently  dressed  herself  with  scrupulous 
care. 

The  first  questions  she  answered  disclosed  her  husband's 
name,  rank,  and  service,  her  own  name  before  marriage 
and  her  home, —  in  the  south  of  England. 

"  You're  an  army  girl,  aren't  you  '{  '  She  was  asked  by 
Miss  McFall,  who  then  requested  all  her  papers.  Imme- 
diately this  necessitated  the  excited  search  of  pockets  and 
dress  front.  When  the  documents  were  found  to  be  in  mili- 
tary order,  the  questioning  was  resumed.  The  girl  was  go- 
ing to  Chicago  to  meet  her  husband,  she  said. 

"  What  do  you  know  about  your  husband  ?  ' 

Her  answer  was,  unfortunately,  identical  with  that  which 
nine  out  of  ten  of  these  young  women  gave. 

"  K'-nothing  —  much." 

"  WThen  did  you  meet  him  ? ' 

"  I  was  a  waitress  in  a  restaurant  where  he  used  to  come. 
He  asked  me  to  go  out  with  him.  I  knew  him  that  way  a 
couple  of  months,  and  then  he  asked  me  to  marry  him  — 
so  we  got  married.  I  stayed  in  the  cafe  and  he  went  back 
to  camp,  but  I  used  to  see  him  every  few  days."  She  had 


174  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

become  quite  breathless  as  she  ran  on,  and  stopped  abruptly 
with  an  embarassed  smile. 

"  How  old  are  you  ? ' 

"  Eighteen,  that  is,  eighteen  and  two  months."  She 
scarcely  looked  it. 

"Has  your  husband  told  you  anything  about  his  people 
at  home  ?  ' 

"  Oh  yes;  he  says  he  hasn't  any.  But  he's  got  an  aunt, 
he  s*ays,  who's  going  to  take  me  in  till  he's  demobilized." 

"  Have  you  had  any  letters  from  him  since  he  returned 
to  America  ? ' 

In  answer,  she  unbuttoned  the  waist  of  her  dress  and 
drew  out  several  compactly  folded  and  rather  worn  pages 
and  lay  them,  still  warm,  in  Miss  McFall's  hand. 

"  You  don't  mind  if  I  take  just  a  little  look  at  them,  do 
you?" 

First  came  a  blush,  a  smile  and  the  catching  of  a  lower 
lip  between  the  teeth  in  momentary  hesitancy.  Well, 
they're  —  you  know,  he  —  er  —  all  right,  you  can  look  at 
them." 

The  letters  were  nearly  always  alike,  physically  and 
spiritually,  for,  after  all,  the  language  of  love  varies  not  in 
root  or  branch,  only  in  its  flowers.  There  was  the  same 
token  of  brief  schooling  in  the  labored  handwriting  and  the 
occasional  misspelling,  and  the  reiterations  for  lack  of 
more  words  in  which  to  tell  of  affection  and  lonesomeness 
and  longing.  And  again  and  again  the  letters  ended  with 
the  familiar  "  Lots  of  love  and  kisses ''  and  the  cabalistic 
string  of  X's. 

"  How  much  money  have  you? ''  followed  the  return  of 
the  letters  to  their  hiding  place. 

From  another  recess  came  a  small,  round  leather  purse, 
with  a  worn  nickel  clasp,  and  from  it  were  extracted  in 
turn,  a  newspaper  clipping,  a  bit  of  soiled  ribbon,  a  key, 
three  hairpins  and  —  two  pounds,  ten  shillings.  The  girl 
lay  the  money  on  the  desk  and  hastily  crowded  the  odds 
and  ends  back  into  the  purse.  She  glanced  at  the  crumpled 


THE  "  SHEPHERD  '.'  AT  LIVERPOOL  175 

bills  and  the  coins  with  an  indifference  which  was  tell-tale 
of  her  satisfaction. 

"  Is  that  all  you  have  ? ' 

A  look  of  genuine  surprise  greeted  the  inquiry.  Two 
pounds,  ten  shillings  did  not  seem  such  a  trifling  sum.  She 
had  evidently  been  long  in  saving  it.  That  was  what  made 
it  so  difficult  to  tell  her  that  she  must  have  so  much  more 
before  she  could  be  permitted  to  sail.  There  must  be 
money  for  her  maintenance  aboard,  and  enough  left  over 
to  take  her  all  the  way  to  Chicago.  Had  she  not  thought 
of  that  ?  Her  silence,  the  sudden  compression  of  her  lips 
spoke  for  her.  And  then,  with  an  uncontrollable  quiver- 
ing of  her  chin,  came  the  -tears.  Between  her  deep  sobs,  she 
stammered  her  des-pair ;  it  was  all  the  money  ste  had,  her 
husband  had  never  given  any  to  her,  what  could  she  do  ? 

But,  quick  as  was  the  despairing  outburst,  Miss  McFall 
had  sprung  up  and  laid  a  hand  on  the  girl's  shoulder. 
Now,  now,  she  mustn't  cry  —  it  wasn't  so  hopeless  as  that, 
because  the  Red  Cross  was  there  to  help  her,  it  was  there 
just  for  that  purpose.  It  would  lend  her  husband  what- 
ever money  she  needed  to  get  her  home  to  him.  She  could 
tell  him  about  it  and  he  would  send  it  back  to  the  Red  Cross 
as  soon  as  he  was  able.  Now  wasn't  that  all  right? 

Conviction  did  not  come  very  quickly.  It  seemed  in- 
credible that  the  weight  which  had  fallen  so  heavily  upon 
her  could  be  so  miraculously  lifted.  But  in  a  little  while 
the  sodden  handkerchief  was  tucked  away  and  something 
besides  tears  began  to  shine  in  the  girl's  eye.  And  then, 
the  smile  — 

"  Oh,  it's  worth  living  for,  that  smile  of  relief -that  comes 
into  their  faces,"  said  Miss  McFall,  Avhen  -the  girl  of  a  wife 
had  gone  out,  leaving  her  troubles  behind  her.  "  It's  not 
pleasant  to  have  to  question  them  so  closely,  but  we  must 
do  it,  and  now  and  then  I  pay  for  it  with  a  tear  of  my  own. 
You  see,  so  few  of  them,  particularly  the  very  young  ones, 
are  able  to  save  enough  money  to  undertake  the  journey. 
They  are  all,  or  nearly  all,  working  girls  who  have  earned 


176  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

small  wages.  And,  unfortunately,  their  husbands  have  not 
thought  to  provide  them  with  money,  perhaps  they  haven't 
had  it  themselves.  So  it's  just  like  exploding  a  shell  in  the 
room  to  tell  them  that  they  need  five  or  six  pounds  more 
than  the  amount  they  have  so  carefully  put  aside.  Some 
of  them,  of  course,  have  quite  enough  money,  even  to  get 
rooms  for  themselves  in  Liverpool,  so  they  do  not  require 
our  help.  But  for  the  majority,  the  large  majority,  the 
Red  Cross  is  an  angel  unaware. 

"  Then,  too,  the  nervous  plight  of  the  girls  who  came  here 
is  pathetic.  They  are  like  little  children.  I've  known 
them  fail  to  remember  their  names !  They  forget  their 
baggage,  their  passports,  everything  it  is  impossible  to  for- 
get. I  can  only  imagine  what  would  happen  to  them  if 
they  were  not  actually  shepherded  aboard  their  ships. 
There  they  are  safe,  because  afterward  not  one  of  them  is 
permitted  to  come  ashore  save  in  my  personal  charge.  The 
authorities  had  to  make  that  regulation  to  prevent  them 
from  wandering  off  and,  in  all  likelihood,  missing  the  ship. 

"  For  another  thing,  they  seem  to  have  so  little  idea  of 
distance,  of  the  vastness  of  the  country  to  which  they  are 
going.  I  remember  one  little  girl  who  was  going  to  Port- 
land, Oregon.  She  had  only  two  pounds  in  her  purse  and 
when  I  asked  her  how  she  expected  to  get  to  Portland  on 
that,  she  replied,  bless  your  heart,  with  the  most  confident 
smile :  i  I'll  call  my  husband  on  the  telephone  as  soon  as  I 
get  to  New  York  and  tell  him  I'm  there,  and  he'll  come 
meet  me !  '  I  told  her  that  when  she  arrived  in  America 
she  would  then  be  just  as  far  from  her  husband  as  she  was 
that  minute  from  New  York,  and  she  promptly  burst  into 
tears.  Another  girl  asked  me  when  her  ship  stopped  at 
Brighton,  which  is  near  Birkenhead,  just  across  the  river, 
because  some  of  her  friends  wanted  to  come  to  the  wharf  to 
see  her  off.  She  opened  her  eyes  in  amazement  when  I 
explained  that  if  the  ship  stopped  at  all,  it  would  be  at 
Brest  in  France. 

"  However,  it  is  not  only  in  the  little  money  transactions 


THE  "  SHEPHERD  "  AT  LIVERPOOL  177 

and  in  caring  for  the  girls  and  seeing  -them  safely  aboard 
that  the  Red  Cross  is  able  now  and  then  to  give  a  helping 
hand.  There  was  one  girl,  she  was  little  more  than  a  child, 
eighteen,  perhaps,  who  came  from  Birkenhead.  She  came 
directly  aboard  the  transport  to  which  she  had  been  previ- 
ously assigned,  on  the  afternoon  before  sailing.  It  was  her 
belief  that  she  had  come  to  report  and  she  intended  to  take 
the  ferry  home  at  six  o'clock.  I  knew  nothing  of  this  and, 
in  due  course,  assigned  he^  with  the  others,  to  a  cabin. 
Later,  I  found  her  in  her  room,  weeping  her  eyes  out. 
When  I  asked  what  could  be  the  matter,  she  told  me  she  had 
tried  to  leave  the  ship  and  had  been  stopped.  Her  mother 
was  waiting  for  her,  and  what  would  she  think  had  become 
of  her !  '  I've  never  even  said  good-by  to  her !  '  she  cried. 
So  I  sent  a  telegram  to  her  mother,  because  I  couldn't  let 
the  girl  leave  the  ship  at  that  late  hour  —  it  was  to  sail 
early  next  morning  —  and  the  old  lady,  far  beyond  sixty, 
came  to  the  ship  with  her  daughter's  little  trunk.  I  got 
permission  to  bring  her  aboard  and  she  and  her  daugther 
had  a  very  happy-wretched  time  crying  over  their  farewells 
all  alone  in  the  girl's  cabin.  The  mother  called  down  all 
sorts  of  blessings  upon  the  Red  Cross  because  this  was  the 
youngest  of  her  four  daughters,  the  last  one  to  leave  her 
and  the  only  one  she  knew  she  should  never  see  again.  I 
patted  them  and  I  guess  I  cried  over  them  a  little,  too,  and 
I  couldn't  bear  to  lead  the  old  lady  away  when  the  time 
came  for  her  to  go. 

"  So,  you  see,  it's  not  always  an  easy  thing  to  get  these 
girls  off — I  mean,  it  isn't  always  easy  on  one's  heart.  And 
it's  made  harder  by  the  fact  that  many  are  so  pathetically 
helpless.  It  is  no  fault  of  the  husbands  that  they  have  had 
to  sail  away  and  leave  the  women  behind,  but  it  is  a  pity 
that  all  of  them  could  not  have  left  sufficient  money  with 
their  wives  to  save  them  the  unhappiness  of  having  to 
borrow.  But  there  was  one  party  of  wives  which  sailed  for 
America  in  high  spirits.  Almost  the  entire  membership  of 
Company  F  of  the  162nd  Infantry  —  men  from  the 


ITS  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

Western  Coast  —  had  married  here  in  England.  They 
asked  if  they  might  not  be  sent  home  with  their  wives.  So 
they  were  formed  into  a  casual  company  in  November, 
1918,  and  they  remained  at  Knotty  Ash  until  mid- April, 
and  then  they  and  their  wives  were  assigned  to  a  trans- 
port. I  am  sure  no  happier  troopship  ever  crossed  the 
Atlantic ! ' 

And  just  then  the  second  girl  in  the  day's  contingent,  ap- 
peared in  the  doorway,  halting  at  the  threshold  in  timid 
wondering. 

"  Come  in,  my  dear,  this  is  the  fold/'  Miss  McFall  sang 
out  cheerfully. 


CHAPTER  X 

CROWNED  HEADS  AND  MERRY  MEN  AT  DARTFORD 

THERE  were  two  memorable  days  in  the  history  of 
Dartford  Hospital.  One  was  signalized  by  the  visit 
of  the  King  and  Queen  of  England,  the  other  by  the  sign- 
ing of  the  Armistice.  The  royal  visit  lasted  two  hours  -  -  a 
long  time  for  so  busy  a  sovereign  as  King  George.  The 
affairs  incidental  to  November  llth  lasted  until  everyone 
in  the  hospital  was  worn  out  —  far  too  short  a  time  in 
which  to  expand  so  much  enthusiasm. 

Of  course  there  were  days  made  notable  by  the  visits  of 
other  distinguished  persons,  among  them  Secretary  Baker, 
accompanied  by  Major  General  John  Biddle,  commanding 
the  American  forces  in  Great  Britain,  and  Brigadier  Gen- 
eral F.  A.  Winter,  the  Chief  Surgeon ;  Mrs.  Walter  Hines 
Page,  wife  of  the  then  Ambassador,  and  Samuel  Gompers, 
president  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor.  But  these 
lacked  the  spectacular  appeal  of  royal  visitors,  they  were 
"  their  own  people,"  while  a  King  was  something  quite 
new  to  democratic  Americans,  many  of  those  at  Dartford 
never  until  then  having  seen  one.  And,  incidentally,  if 
any  of  them  looked  for  austerity  and  a  forbidding  mien 
they  were  disappointed.  They  learned  about  monarchs 
from  him.  King  George  shook  hands  and  talked  in  win- 
ning cordiality  with  scores  of  wounded  American  soldiers 
and  particularly  asked  to  witness  those  activities  the  Red 
Cross  was  conducting  for  the  men  of  Dartford. 

The  royal  visit  occurred  during  the  last  part  of  October, 
1918.  The  King  and  Queen,  accompanied  by  Princess 
Mary  and  one  or  two  officers  of  the  King's  personal  staff, 
motored  from  Buckingham  Palace,  arriving  at  Dartford 
about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  It  was  a  brilliantly 

w 

sunny  day  and  the  spacious  grounds  of  the  hillside  hospital 

179 


180  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

were  dotted  with  groups  of  convalescents  —  from  a  distance 
they  looked  like  a  flock  of  sheep  on  a  rising  meadow-land  — 
when  the  royal  car  arrived  at  the  main  entrance  gate. 
There  it  was  met  by  a  tiny  hospital  runabout  which  acted 
as  pilot  to  the  King's  huge  machine  through  the  maze  of 
avenues  and  lanes  running  between  the  straggling  village 
of  hutments  erected  as  annexes  to  the  main  hospital  build- 
ings. 

Knowing  the  intended  hour  of  the  visit  —  there  is  noth- 
ing in  the  world  so  swift  as  "  hospital  wireless  " —  unless 
it  be  its  fellow,  "  camp  wireless  " —  such  of  the  American 
wounded  as  were  permitted  to  roam  about,  and  there  were 
hundreds  of  them,  all  in  hospital  blue,  had  gathered  along 
"  the  route  of  the  procession."  Bandaged,  on  crutches, 
some  even  in  wheel-chairs,  they  ranged  themselves  on  both 
sides  of  the  roadways,  cheering  and  waving  their  greeting 
to  the  visitors.  The  King,  in  the  khaki  uniform  of  a  field 
marshal  —  one  rarely  saw  him  in  "  civvies,"  as  the  British 
call  it,  even  in  London  during  the  war  —  repeatedly  raised 
his  hand  to  his  camp  visor  in  answer,  his  pleased  smile  and 
the  bow  which  accompanied  it  robbing  the  salute  of  all  its 
military  stiffness.  The  Queen,  too,  smiled  as  she  bent  for- 
ward in  gracious  acknowledgment  of  the  reception.  And 
so,  between  lines  of  men,  recovering  from  wounds  brought 
back  from  the  red  sectors  in  France,  the  party  rode  on  to 
the  headquarters  of  Colonel  E.  H.  Fiske,  the  surgeon  com- 
manding. There  Colonel  Fiske  and  a  number  of  Army 
and  Red  Cross  officers  were  presented  to  King  George  and 
Queen  Mary,  who  a  few  minutes  later  were  escorted, 
through  a  lane  of  cheering  American  soldiers,  toward  the 
ward  buildings.  But  the  King  did  not  want  to  reach  the 
wards  before  seeking  out  a  soldier  with  whom  to  talk.  He 
had  gone  not  more  than  a  half  a  dozen  paces  when  his  eye 
was  caught  by  a  youngster  with  a  green  and  yellow  ribbon 
on  his  breast,  swinging  along  on  a  crutch.  Two  quick 
strides  took  him  to  the  soldier's  side  and,  in  another,  he  had 
caught  step  with  the  crutch. 


CROWNED  HEADS  AT  DARTFORD  181 

"  Good  afternoon,"  said  the  King.  ("  Just  like  that!  ' 
said  the  soldier  in  his  next  letter  home.)  And  after  that, 
with  all  the  interest  and  lack  of  formality  his  captain  or 
his  surgeon  might  have  shown,  the  soldier  was  questioned 
by  the  King  as  they  went  slowly  together,  almost  brushing 
elbows,  about  himself,  his  wounds,  and  the  ribbon  which 
had  arrested  the  royal  eye.  The  soldier  was  Sergeant  E.  J. 
Donnell,  of  Chicago,  who  had  been  badly  torn  up  by 
machine-gun  fire  in  "  Chipply  Wood  '  near  Albert.  As 
for  the  ribbon,  that  was  for  service  on  the  Mexican  border. 
To  all  that  Donnell  told  him,  King  George  listened  atten- 
tively, now  and  then  interjecting  a  comment  or  a  question 
to  lead  the  conversation  on. 

While  they  were  thus  walking  together  the  King  sud- 
denly spied  a  row  of  wounded  men  on  cots  which  had  been 
carried  from  a  neighboring  ward  and  placed  at  the  edge  of 
a  border  of  shade  trees  so  that  the  patients  might  enjoy  the 
play  of  the  wind  and  the  sunshine  about  them.  Instantly 
he  halted,  gave  Donnell's  disengaged  hand  a  firm  grip  with 
a  word  of  God-speed,  and,  pausing  an  instant,  led  Queen 
Mary  and  the  Princess  toward  the  cots.  He  stopped  be- 
side that  of  William  Enkler,  who  haied  from  peaceful 
Freeport,  Long  Island.  Enkler  was  just  about  to  turn  to 
another  page  of  a  Sunday's  "  Pittsburgh  Dispatch  '  when 
the  King  appeared.  As  he  lowered  the  newspaper,  King 
George  took  it  up,  with  a  quick  glance  at  the  date  of  it. 

"  How  did  you  get  that  paper  so  quickly  ? '    he  asked. 
'  It  was  published  a  very  short  time  ago.'7 

"  The  American  Ked  Cross,  Sir,"  Enkler  replied.  "  It 
distributes  newspapers  in  the  hospital  from  all  parts  of  the 
United  States." 

"  Do  you  come  from  Pittsburgh  ? ' 

'  No,  sir,  I  am  from  New  York.  I've  read  all  my 
papers.  We  pass  them  on.  This  one  arrived  yesterday 
and  it's  been  read  about  thirty  times  already !  ' 

You  men   like   your   newspapers   from    home,    don't 
you?  "  the  King  inquired. 


182  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

Enkler  answered  with  a  grin  that  they  surely  did,  where- 
upon King  George  agreed  that  nothing  was  more  natural 
and,  pointing  to  the  headlines  of  the  paper,  he  added,  "  The 
news  is  better,  don't  you  think,  than  it  was  a  few  months 
ago  ?  " 

This  was  Enkler's  turn  to  agree  and  for  several  minutes 
he  and  the  King  had  a  war  dicussion  that  both  evidently 
much  enjoyed.  As  Enkler's  nurse  went  past  him  after  the 
royal  party  had  moved  on  to  the  other  cots  he  beckoned  to 
her. 

"  O  Friend  of  Kings,  what  is  it?  "  she  asked  with  a  sup- 
pressed smile  and  a  surreptitious  bow  of  humility. 

"  Well,  that's  the  first  King  I  ever  met,  and  all  I've  got 
to  say  is  he's  a  real  human  being  I ' 

Down  the  entire  line  of  cots  went  the  King  and  Queen, 
with  a  stop  at  each  and  words  of  greeting  and  inquiry. 
Thence  the  party  entered  the  wards  and,  as  before,  greatly 
pleased  the  sick  and  wounded  men  with  both  the  kindli- 
ness of  their  questioning  and  their  hearty  good  wishes  for 
rapid  recovery.  The  men  liked  King  George's  frank,  dem- 
ocratic manner  of  approaching  them,  his  deep,  resonant 
voice  and  his  hearty  way  of  saying,  "  Remember  that  you 
are  in  England,  and  if  there  is  anything  we  can  do  for  you 
at  any  time  we  want  to  know  it,  and  shall  take  real  pleasure 
in  doing  it." 

Not  only  in  the  wounded,  was  the  Queen  interested,  but 
also  in  the  American  nurses  and  their  training  and 
methods,  asking  them  many  questions  which  showed 
marked  knowledge  of  their  humane,  self-sacrificing  pro- 
fession. She  seemed  to  be  especially  intrigued  when 
Private  Ules  Fox  told  her  that  he  owed  his  life  to  his  nurse. 
He  had  been  wounded  at  Dickebusch,  he  said,  and  the 
quaint  Southern  melodiousness  with  which  he  pronounced 
the  name  —  he  came  from  Model,  Tennessee  —  brought  a 
delighted  smile  to  the  Queen's  lips.  Then  they  had  carried 
him  at  last  to  Dartford  and  there  his  nurse  had  just 
"  made  "  him  get  well.  The  nurse,  Miss  Nota  Calligan,  of 


CROWNED  HEADS  AT  DARTFORD  183 

\Veatherford,  Texas,  who  was  standing  beside  the  cot  blush- 
ing furiously,  went  a  shade  deeper  as  Queen  Mary  turned 
to  her  and  held  out  a  congratulatory  hand.  That,  she  said, 
was  the  sublime  task  of  nurses,  their  highest  achievement, 
to  make  live  the  men  whose  sufferings  had  overcome  their 
wish  to  live. 

As  the  treatment  and  care  of  fractures  and  orthopedic 
cases  has  long  been  a  hobby  of  King  George,  it  was  in  the 
ward  devoted  to  these,  and  to  which  the  Red  Cross  made 
frequent  contributions  of  special  boots  and  other  foot  gear, 
that  he  remained  longest  during  the  visit.  He  was 
especially  attracted  to  the  complicated  contrivance  of 
framework,  pulleys,  and  weights  employed  in  treating  the 
badly  fractured  leg  of  Corporal  C.  A.  Better,  of  Pittsburgh, 
and  had  it  explained  to  him  in  detail,  chatting  with  Better 
the  while.  Then  he  engaged  himself  for  an  equally  long 
time  over  the  apparatus  in  use  upon  Private  George  Lynch, 
of  New  York,  who  has  been  severely  wounded  at  Dicke- 
busch  and  lay  in  what  looked  like  a  species  of  cantilever 
bridge.  His  Majesty  was  invariably  desirous  of  learning 
of  the  comfort  of  the  men  and  the  readiness  and  fortitude 
with  which  they  became  accustomed  to  their  appliances. 

With  Lieutenant  J.  P.  Kerrigan,  of  Rutland,  Vt.,  whose 
right  leg  had  been  amputated  below  the  knee  as  the  re- 
sult of  wounds  from  a  bursting  shell  at  Ypres,  the  King 
talked  at  length.  He  cited  the  case  of  a  British  soldier 
similarly  handicapped,  the  progress  of  whose  treatment  at 
Queen  Mary's  Hospital  in  Roehampton  he  had  watched 
with  much  interest.  This  soldier,  he  was  glad  to  tell  Ker- 
rigan, was  now  able  to  walk  as  comfortably  as  ever  with  a 
well-fitted  artificial  leg. 

It  was  at  Roehampton,  as  the  King  knew,  that  the  Amer- 
ican Red  Cross  had  provided  a  special  omnibus  service  for 
the  British  soldiers  reporting  at  the  artificial  limb  work- 
shops for  fittings  or  adjustments.  Hitherto  these  men  had 
been  compelled  to  walk  as  best  they  could  from  the  nearest 
rapid-transit  station  to  the  hospital,  and  frequently  this 


184  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

part  of  the  journey,  which  was  up  a  hill,  was  a  matter  of 
BO  little  difficulty  to  them.  The  establishment  of  the  'bus 
service,  however,  with  sixteen  daily  trips  between  Roe- 
hampton  and  Barnes  Common,  had  done  away  with  the 
hardship. 

In  every  instance  of  his  conversations  with  the  American 
soldiers  at  Dartford,  the  King  showed  himself  to  be  famil- 
iar with  their  engagements  and  familiar  with  the  places  at 
which  they  had  been  wounded.  He  proved  to  be  a  practical 
encyclopaedia  of  the  war  and  often  amazed  the  men  with  his 
knowledge  of  details. 

An  American  aviator,  Charles  Corse,  of  Minneapolis, 
who  had  been  wounded  by  one  of  his  own  bombs,  narrated 
an  experience  which  visibly  interested  King  George.  Dur- 
ing a  raid,  Corse  had  swooped  down  to  within  twenty  feet 
of  the  ground,  bent  upon  making  the  target  with  the  last 
bomb  in  the  rack.  He  dropped  the  bomb  and  k  exploded 
promptly,  a  dead  hit,  but  a  large  fragment  of  the  projectile 
flew  upward  and  struck  him  as  he  soared  away.  In  spite 
of  the  wound,  Corse  succeeded  in  piloting  his  "  bus  '  to  a 
good  landing  back  of  his  own  lines.  After  that  he  vaguely 
remembered  being  carried  off  to  a  hospital. 

King  George  regarded  this  as  a  highly  unusual  experi- 
ence and  commented  upon  it  by  relating  the  singular  ad- 
ventures of  several  British  and  French  flying  men  with 
whom  he  had  recently  talked. 

The  last  hospital  ward  visited  was  that  in  which  the  shell- 
shock  cases  were  under  treatment.  This  had  been  dec- 
orated and  furnished  by  a  committee  of  Red  Cross  women 
only  a  short  time  before.  The  King  and  Queen  manifested 
liveliest  interest  in  the  patients,  talking  with  all  those  whose 
condition  permitted  and  asking  many  questions  of  the  at- 
tending physicians,  especially  regarding  the  case  of  a  boy 
who,  utterly  unable  to  walk,  played  the  piano  for  hours,  to 
the  great  enjoyment  of  his  fellows,  and  of  another  who  was 
just  learning  to  talk  again  after  a  silence  of  more  than  a 
month.  Here,  too,  the  King  met  Alfonso  Delarenzo,  a 


CROWNED  HEADS  AT  DARTFORD  185 

New  York  sculptor  who  had  enlisted  in  the  hospital  unit 
as  a  kitchen  orderly,  hut  had  been  rescued  by  his  talents. 
Hje  was  now  assigned  to  decorative  work  in  the  ward,  his 
abilities  being  more  needed  for  that  than  for  exploitation 
in  the  arts  culinary.  His  translation  provoked  a  mirthful 
laugh  and  a  very  earnest  congratulation  from  the  King. 

From  the  wards,  the  royal  party  then  went  the  rounds 
of  the  activities  which  the  Red  Cross  had  established  in  con- 
nection with  the  hospital.  The  magnitude  of  the  service 
it  was  possible  thereby  to  render  to  the  men  greatly  grati- 
fied the  visitors.  It  was  explained  to  them  that  the  Red 
Cross  supplemented  the  regular  army  supplies  of  drugs, 
medicines,  surgical  dressings,  bed  linen  and  clothing, 
especially  such  articles  as  socks,  gloves,  underwear, 
pajamas,  bed  jackets,  bath  robes  and  sweaters.  In  the 
Red  Cross  storehouse  was  shown  to  them  the  large  stock  of 
commodities  for  personal  use  which  were  distributed  freely 
among  the  patients  —  the  tooth  brushes,  tooth  paste,  combs, 
candy,  razors  and  razor  blades,  soap,  writing  materials, 
chocolate,  cigarettes,  smoking  tobacco,  comfort  kits  and 
"  housewives  ' '  with  which  they  might  do  their  own  bits  of 
mending  and  button  sewing. 

At  the  "  Hospital  Exchange  ' '  which,  in  the  few  months 
the  Red  Cross  operated  it,  transacted  business  to  the  tune 
of  more  than  $7,000,  they  inspected  the  so-called  "  lux- 
uries," the  things  quite  unobtainable  from  the  hospital's 
stores,  which  were  provided  for  the  benefit  of  the  staff  and 
the  convalescent  patients.  Then  they  came  to  the  Recrea- 
tion Hut,  which  the  Red  Cross  had  erected  at  a  cost  of 
$12,000  for  both  personnel  and  patients.  This  was  a  large 
T-shaped  building,  steam-heated  and  lighted  by  gas,  the 
cross  bar  being  a  general  clubroom  and  the  vertical  stroke 
a  combination  theater  and  cinema.  In  the  clubroom, 
emptied  now  by  the  greater  attraction  of  the  royal  visit, 
were  card  tables  and  writing  desks,  a  library  of  500 
volumes,  and  racks  containing  the  current  English  and 
American  magazines  and  newspapers. 


186  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

This  practically  brought  to  an  end  the  visit  of  the  King 
and  Queen  and  Princess  Mary,  but  before  leaving,  the 
party  returned  for  a  moment  to  the  hospital  and  signed  the 
much-prized  "  Visitors'  Book."  Then  it  entered  the  wait- 
ing cars  and  rolled  away  on  the  return  journey  to  Bucking- 
ham Palace.  At  the  gates,  as  the  cars  passed  through,  a 
crowd  of  nearly  a  thousand  convalescents  cheered  and 
waved  their  caps  in  Godspeed.  During  his  two-hour  visit 
the  King  had  talked  with  eighty-three  American  soldiers 
from  twenty-two  different  States. 

It  was  a  Red  Cross  messenger  who  brought  to  Dartford 
the  first  news  of  the  signing  of  the  Armistice  on  the  morn- 
ing of  November  eleventh.  The  small  motor  car  which 
dashed  up  to  the  main  hospital  building  with  the  tidings 
and  announcing  copies  of  the  "  Red  Cross  Daily  Bulletin  ' 
—  which,  by  the  way,  "  scooped '  all  the  London  papers, 
being  first  in  the  field  with  the  historic  news  —  caused  a 
hilarious  stampede.  Every  patient  who  could  hop,  hobble, 
or  crawl,  every  disengaged  nurse  or  doctor,  gathered  around 
the  machine  or  came  to  window  or  door.  Dartford  was  one 
great  cheer.  Even  the  weary  men  in  the  wards,  tortured  as 
they  were  by  their  wounds,  forgot  everything  in  this  instant 
of  rejoicing.  In  Ward  P.,  for  instance,  all  the  patients  ap- 
parently went  mad.  By  a  chance,  which  they  considered 
most  fortunate,  there  were  neither  nurses  nor  orderlies 
about  the  place,  so,  accompanied  by  triumphant  cries, 
shoes,  slippers,  pillows,  everything  that  lay  to  hand  went 
flying  about  the  room. 

"  Creeping  barrage  from  the  75's  of  the  American  front 
line!  "  roared  a  determined  leader  on  one  side,  supporting 
himself  against  his  cot  with  one  leg  and  a  crutch.  The 
response  to  his  command  came  in  a  hurricane  fire  of  maga- 
zines, books,  dressing  gowns  rolled  in  huge  lumps,  towels, 
and  hastily  knotted  handkerchiefs.  "  Give  Eritz  merry 
hell !  "  he  cried  in  encouragement. 

"•Open  up  with  the  440's !  "  screamed  the  leader  of  the 
opposing  forces  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  ward. 


CROWNED  HEADS  AT  DARTFORD  187 

"  Boom !  " —  he  hurled  a  pillow  far  down  the  line  of  cots. 
The  air  was  fairly  alive  with  Red  Cross  comfort  bags, 
sweaters,  woolen  socks,  and  felt  shoes  in  the  counter  fire. 

"  Now  fellows,  let's  go !  -  —  Over  the  top  to  Berlin !  ' 
ordered  the  bandaged  general  of  the  American  forces. 
Three  patients  on  crutches  hopped  as  fast  as  they  could 
across  the  wide  aisle  of  the  ward,  yelping  as  they  charged. 
They  flung  themselves  upon  the  "  enemy  "  cots  and  began 
a  hearty  pommeling  of  their  occupants.  Their  neighbors, 
strapped  in  their  cots,  came  to  the  rescue  with  a  withering 
fire  of  Red  Cross  hot  water  bags. 

"  Give  'em  the  bayonet !  '  yelled  one  legless  man,  feint- 
ing thrusts  with  his  crutch. 

"  Clean  up  the  dug-outs !  ' '  cried  another,  using  his  one 
remaining  arm  to  pound  with  a  pillow  an  adversary  who 
had  pulled  the  bed-clothes  over  his  head. 

The  battle  would  have  gone  on  to  exhaustion  if  a  startled 
dove  of  peace  in  the  uniform  of  a  nurse  had  not  come  into 
the  ward  just  then.  She  signed  the  armistice  and  hurried 
the  grinning  men  back  into  their  cots  in  short  order. 
There  were  no  casualties,  save  for  a  few  scrapes  and 
bruises,  but  the  nurse  was  busy  a  half-hour  collecting  the 
"  ammunition  "  and  restoring  it  to  its  proper  owners.  As 
an  instance  of  the  native  cheerfulness  of  the  American 
wounded,  this  incident  is  noteworthy.  For  the  foregoing 
"  battle  ' '  occurred  in  a  ward  whose  every  patient  had  lost 
either  an  arm  or  a  leg. 

At  that  time  the  men  at  Dartford  were  mainly  those  of 
the  27th  and  30th  American  Divisions  which  had  been 
through  the  tremendous  fighting  that  broke  the  boasted 
Hindenburg  Line  between  Cambrai  and  St.  Quentin  during 
the  last  days  of  September  and  the  first  days  of  October, 
1918.  The  men  had  therefore  been  in  hospital  only  a  short 
time  when  the  blood  and  iron  of  Germany's  military 
power  dissolved  into  ink  with  which  to  sign  an  armistice. 

As  soon  as  they  caught  breath  after  their  first  whirlwind 
of  enthusiasm,  fifteen  hundred  of  them  —  -  half  the  popula- 


188  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

tion  of  the  hospital  —  formed  in  line,  with  an  American 
flag  and  a  Red  Cross  standard  at  its  head,  and,  cheering  and 
making  noises  upon  anything  that  would  add  to  the  din, 
marched  and  counter-marched  through  the  grounds.  To 
add  a  costume  touch  to  the  festivities,  many  wore  flags 
across  their  breasts,  others  turned  their  jackets  inside  out 
and  some  had  Red  Cross  comfort  bags  on  their  heads.  A 
large  number  were  in  bright-patterned  bathrobes,  just  as 
they  had  swarmed  out  from  the  wards.  And  well  up  in 
the  line  were  several  convalescents,  still  unable  to  walk  but 
mighty  at  cheering,  who  were  pushed  along  in  their  wheel- 
chairs by  sturdier  comrades. 

When  the  entire  area  of  the  hospital  reservation  had 
been  covered  the  paraders  obtained  permission  to  march 
through  the  big  German  prison  camp,  a  few  hundred  yards 
away  down  the  hill.  There  they  encountered  a  rejoicing 
no  less  boisterous  and  sincere  than  their  own.  The  prison- 
ers had  been  told  of  the  Armistice  at  practically  the  same 
hour  that  the  news  was  brought  to  the  Americans  and  they 
began  celebrating  forthwith.  Their  camp  orchestra  played 

:  The  Star  Spangled  Banner  "  and  they,  too,  had  a  parade 
with  a  tin-basin  band  in  the  vanguard  as  it  went  about  the 
barbed-wired-encircled  compound.  Immediately  following 
the  '  band  '  was  a  "  camel,"  contrived  of  two  Germans 
bearing  a  mattress  upon  boards  spanning  their  shoulders, 
the  man  in  front  carrying  a  long-handled  mop.  Over  all, 
small  dark  blankets  were  thrown,  one  fastened  about  the 
mop-head,  and  a  rider  lifted  into  his  precarious  saddle, 
made  doubly  so  by  the  antics  of  the  steed.  The  German 
sergeant-major  of  the  camp,  constituted  himself  the 

'  camel's ' '  Arab  leader,  with  mustache  and  beard  of  soot 
from  the  kitchen  chimney,  a  colored  handkerchief  about  his 
neck  and  bare  above  the  waist  save  for  the  improvised 
"  bournous  "  of  a  blanket.  As  he  led  his  charge  about  the 
enclosure  he  shouted  alternately,  "  Hoch,  Camile !  "  and 
"  Hoch  die  Republic ! '  to  the  great  glee  of  the  prisoners. 


CROWNED  HEADS  AT  DARTFORD  180 

The  arrival  of  the  Americans  in  their  camp  was  re- 
soundingly cheered  by  the  Germans  who  lined  up  to  greet 
them.  They  took  off  their  little  skull  caps  and  waved  them 
as  the  flags  went  by.  They  gave  every  evidence  of  thank- 
fulness that  the  dreadful  business  was  at  an  end. 

This  dramatic  encounter  between  the  Germans  and  the 
Americans  appealed  particularly  to  the  Red  Cross  moving- 
picture  man,  who  had  hurried  up  from  London  Head- 
quarters to  record  Dartford's  day.  As  permission  to  enter 
the  enclosure  for  any  such  purpose  as  photography  had  to 
be  obtained  from  the  British  authorities,  a  messenger  was 
rushed  to  the  city  in  a  Red  Cross  car  and  back  again  with 
the  properly  signed  order. 

Great  was  the  delight  of  the  prisoners  to  disport  them- 
selves before  the  camera  and  many  feet  of  film  were  taken 
to  perpetuate  the  meeting  and  the  unique  celebration  by 
victors  as  well  as  vanquished.  The  festivities  caused  no 
end  of  surprise  to  the  Cockney  driver  of  the  Red  Cross  car. 

"  Blimy,  if  these  'ere  Hamericans  don't  go  a-torkin'  to 
the  bleedin'  'Uns  an'  a-givin'  of  'em  cigarettes,  all  friendly 
like.  An'  larst  week  they  was  a-killin'  of  each  other ! ' 

The  camera  man  ground  away  until  luncheon  time  and 
then  stopped,  although  the  Germans  begged  for  more  pic- 
tures. When  he  returned  to  the  enclosure  early  in  the 
afternoon  no  one  but  the  sergeant-major  was  visible.  He 
explained  to  the  Red  Cross  men  that  as  the  prisoners  were 
paid  in  accord  with  the  amount  of  work  they  did  in  the 
camp,  they  would  have  lost  money  had  they  stayed  to  be 
photographed.  This  was  too  much  for  the  Cockney  driver. 

"  Syvin'  for  to  set  up  a  shop  in  Lunnon  after  the  war, 
wot  ?  '  And  he  swore  and  spat  upon  the  ground. 

None  of  the  German  officers  in  the  camp  would  submit 
to  portraiture.  They  were  polite,  or  nearly  so,  but  very 
firm.  Some  said  that  they  were  not  in  their  regular  uni- 
forms, others  that  they  were  too  shabby,  but  all  presented 
excuses.  One  haughty  Prussian  major  drew  himself  up, 


190  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

"I  am  celebrating  no  armistice !  I  do  not  recognize  the 
armistice  nor  the  Government  which  has  agreed  to  it.  I 
am  still  at  war !  3 

But  the  parade  did  not  by  any  means  bring  to  an  end 
Dartford's  celebration  of  the  Armistice.  The  patients  still 
had  a  fund  of  enthusiasm  for  expenditure.  So  a  sham 
battle  was  arranged  and  fought  in  a  large  field  near  the 
hospital.  It  was  not  only  in  celebration  of  the  day  but 
commemorative  in  many  ways  of  the  past  that  these  men 
had  played  in  shattering  the  Hindenburg  Line.  There 
were  no  guns  and  no  powder,  of  course,  but  it  was  carried 
out  with  much  explosive  laughter  on  the  part  of  both  con- 
testants and  spectators,  several  hundred  of  the  latter  being 
on  the  "  side  lines  ' '  to  cheer  on  the  warriors. 

To  provide  forces  for  the  engagement  the  convalescents 
were  formed  in  two  detachments,  one  to  represent  the  at- 
tacking Americans,  the  other  the  Germans.  Volunteers 
for  the  German  side  being  decidely  scarce,  conscription  had 
to  be  resorted  to,  the  wages  being  two  bars  of  Red  Cross 
chocolate.  To  distinguish  themselves  the  "  Germans ' 
wore  their  caps  inside  out.  Many  of  the  men  on  both  sides 
were  on  crutches,  the  "  tanks  7 '  were  the  severely  wounded 
men  in  wheel-chairs,  propelled  to  the  attack  by  their  fellow 
convalescents;  the  hand-grenades  were  mud-balls  and  the 
ambulances  wheel-barrows. 

After  the  "  Germans  ? '  had  taken  up  their  position  and 
signaled  their  readiness,  the  Americans  attacked,  preceded 
by  forty  "  tanks  '  propelled  as  rapidly  as  the  comfort  of 
the  patients  and  uneven  ground  permitted.  The  infantry, 
some  on  crutches,  some  steadying  themselves  with  canes, 
went  "  over  the  top  ? '  with  a  yell  and  charged  the  defenses. 

The  "  casualties  '  afforded  the  spectators  great  amuse- 
ment. The  "  dead  men  "  refused  to  stay  dead  and  climbed 
into  the  barrow  ambulances,  insisting  upon  being  carried 
back  into  action.  Several  of  the  most  severe  cases  were 
those  of  men  suffering  from  attacks  of  what  the  fighters 
called  "  laughing  gas.77 


CROWNED  HEADS  AT  DARTFORD  191 

After  an  exciting  hand-to-hand  fight  which,  from  a  dis- 
tance, with  crutches  and  canes  waving  in  the  air,  reminded 
one  of  a  "  Keystone  '  battle,  the  "  Germans  '  threw  up 
their  hands,  cried  "  Kamerad !  '  -^and  the  "  Line  '  was 
broken. 

Then  came  a  mirthful  exhibition  of  grenade-throwing. 
A  nest  of  "  Germans '  in  a  "  shell  hole '  had  to  be 
"  cleaned  up"  and  a  party  of  Americans  in  command  of  a 
lieutenant  was  sent  in  to  do  the  bloody  work.  From  the 
shelter  of  a  clump  of  bushes,  the  Americans  crept  upon 
their  foes  and  suddenly  assailed  them  with  a  rain  of  mud- 
ball  grenades.  They  hurled  them  into  the  shell-hole  until 
all  save  one  of  the  "  Fritzies '  had  been  declared  killed. 
This  last  one  was  "  rushed,"  captured  and  made  to  kiss  the 
American  flag  while  the  audience  roared  with  merriment. 

It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  when  the  warfare  came  to  an 
end,  and  then  both  sides  adjourned,  very  amicably,  very 
willingly  and  very  tired,  to  the  hospital  for  tea. 

Secretary  Baker's  visit,  in  the  autumn  of  1918,  a  short 
time  before  that  of  King  George  and  Queen  Mary,  included 
his  service  as  a  Red  Cross  "  helper,"  because  in  his  journey 
through  the  wards  and  afterward  on  the  lawns,  he  dis- 
tributed a  large  quantity  of  Red  Cross  cigarettes  and  choco- 
late to  the  men  with  whom  he  talked.  Later  he  delivered 
an  address  to  more  than  five  hundred  of  the  patients  in  the 
hospital  Concert  Hall,  where  one  of  the  Red  Cross  musi- 
cal entertainments  was  in  progress  at  the  time  of  his  unex- 
pected arrival.  In  the  officers'  mess,  where  he  went  for  tea, 
it  surprised  and  interested  him  to  find  in  an  issue  of  the 
Red  Cross  Bulletin  a  picture  of  himself  talking  with  a  sol- 
dier cousin  whom  he  had  run  across  in  the  course  of  a  visit 
to  one  of  the  camps  in  the  neighborhood  of  Winchester,  and 
also  a  long  article  devoted  to  a  description  of  his  tour  of  in- 
spection of  American  military  posts  and  hospitals.  It  was 
at  the  conclusion  of  this  tour  that  Secretary  Baker  wrote 
to  the  American  Red  Cross  in  London : 

"  On  this  trip  I  have  received  fresh  and  noteworthy 


192  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

evidence  of  the  astonishing  efficiency  of  Red  Cross  opera- 
tions in  France  and  England.  I  have  been  delighted  to 
see  how  much  the  American  Red  Cross  has  done  to  weld 
the  hearts  of  the  Allied  people  together." 

The  Red  Cross  found  another  enthusiastic  "  helper  "  in 
Mr.  Samuel  Gompers,  when  the  president  of  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor  visited  Dartford  during  the  presence 
of  the  American  Labor  Mission  in  England  in  August, 
1918.  Mr.  Gompers  was  accompanied  on  this  visit  by 
Colonel  Endicott,  the  Red  Cross  Commissioner,  and  Lieu- 
tenant Colonel  F.  A.  Washburn,  of  the  U.  S.  Army  Medical 
Corps,  and  with  them  made  an  extended  tour  of  the  wards. 
In  a  signed  account  of  his  day  at  Dartford,  written  for 
the  Red  Cross  Bulletin,  Mr.  Gompers  said : 

"  Americans  I  met  from  almost  every  State  in  the  Union, 
many  of  whom  I  had  seen  or  known  before.  And  never 
have  I  been  so  proud  to  meet  my  countrymen.  Our  visit 
was  quite  unannounced  and  the  boys  were  surprised  and 
pleased.  I  walked  about  among  them,  handing  them 
cigarettes,  American  flags,  and  comfort  bags  made  by 
women  in  America  for  the  Red  Cross  to  dispose  of  to  our 
boys  wherever  they  may  be.  It  was  a  great  experience  and 
touched  me  deeply.  Every  little  while  I  could  feel  a  lump 
come  in  my  throat.  I  just  couldn't  help  it. 

"  The  Red  Cross  had  sent  out  with  us  a  motor  car  full 
of  things  which  we  distributed.  The  cigarettes  were  from 
two  shipments  sent  over  here  by  the  people  of  Providence, 
R.I.,  and  by  the  Rotary  Club,  of  Honolulu,  Hawaii,  and 
each  package  had  a  little  card  by  which  the  recipient  could 
acknowledge  the  gift.  It  was  a  pleasure  for  me  to  hand 
these  gifts  to  the  men.  They  came  from  America  and  I 
thought  of  every  one  as  a  link  between  these  soldiers  and  the 
mothers,  wives  and  sweethearts  of  America. 

'  If  the  Red  Cross  did  nothing  more  than  distribute 
these  things  it  would  be  worth  while.  I  am  a  member  of 
the  Red  Cross  in  America,  just  like  so  many  millions  of 
other  Americans.  In  the  last  drive  I  helped  to  raise  some 


CROWNED  HEADS  AT  DARTFORD  193 

of  that  giant  fund,  and  I  expect  to  lift  my  voice  for  it 
again  in  the  next  drive.  I  shall  be  able  to  speak  first-hand 
of  its  work  for  our  men." 

After  his  round  of  the  wards,  Mr.  Gompers  talked  on 
the  lawn  with  a  number  of  the  convalescents.  The  grow- 
ing crowd  eventually  called  upon  him  for  a  "  speech,"  which 
he  delivered  briefly  as,  what  he  called,  "  a  message  from  the 
folks  at  home,"  and  every  word  of  it  was  intently  followed 
by  his  impromptu  audience. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE    MIEACLE    OF    EOMSEY   AND    SAKISBTJRY    COUET 


IN"  the  annals  of  the  American  Red  Cross  in  Great 
Britain  there  are  two  names  which  stand  out  in  sharp 
silhouette  against  the  background  of  its  varied  and  increas- 
ing activities.  These  are  Romsey  and  Sarishury  Court. 
They  mean  a  great  deal  to  the  Red  Cross.  The  army  will 
never  forget  them.  Linked  in  no  uncertain  fashion  by  the 
exactions  and  difficulties  common  to  all  undertakings  in 
time  of  war,  Romsey  and  Sarisbury  stand  for  an  un- 
paralleled determination  and  ingeniousness  and  a  conquest 
of  seemingly  unsurmountable  obstacles.  As  names,  they 
represent  two  hospitals  which  the  Red  Cross  created  in 
England  for  the  critical  needs  of  the  army;  as  hospitals, 
they  represent  institutions  which  in  equipment  and  effi- 
ciency acknowledged  no  superior  of  their  kind  throughout 
the  British  Isles.  To  the  English  military,  who  knew  so 
well  how  war  restrictions  could  hamper  even  the  most  ur- 
gent enterprises,  they  were  concrete  evidence  that  the 
American  Red  Cross  could  obey  every  regulation  yet 
"  carry  on  ?  through  thick  and  thin. 

There  was  a  large  American  rest  camp  at  Romsey,  lying 
six  miles  from  Winchester,  which  had  been  taken  over  from 
the  British  in  a  very  incomplete  state.  It  had  a  capacity  of 
7,000  troops  and  came  into  use  when  Morn  Hill  could  no 
longer  accommodate  the  incessantly  arriving  American  de- 
tachments. A  great  deal  of  construction  work  was  im- 
mediately necessary  there  as  the  British  had  used  it  only  as 
a  "  temporary  camp/'  never  intending  it  for  the  more  per- 
manent and  wider  use  to  which  the  Americans  were  com- 
pelled to  put  it.  There  was,  for  instance,  a  tent  hospital 
which  had  been  adequate  enough  for  its  British  use,  that  of 

194 


THE  MIRACLE  OF  ROMSEY  195 

holding  patients  for  only  a  few  hours  at  most,  until  am- 
bulances could  gather  and  convey  them  to  the  nearest  mili- 
tary hospital.  It  was  a  row  of  tents  along  one  of  the  broad 
camp  streets  equipped  not  with  cots  but  with  straw  ticks 
laid  upon  boards  raised  about  half  a  foot  from  the  flooring. 
For  a  few  hours'  occupancy  during  the  pleasant  English 
spring  and  summer  such  a  hospital  imposed  no  hardships, 
but  was  out  of  the  question  in  an  English  winter.  There- 
fore the  necessity  of  providing  a  big  waterproof  hospital 
was  obvious  and  urgent  because,  in  many  cases,  as  has  been 
already  pointed  out,  the  system  of  the  American  soldier  did 
not  take  kindly  to  the  overseas  voyage  nor  the  novelties  of 
English  climate. 

There  being  so  great  an  amount  of  construction  and  re- 
construction already  upon  its  hands  to  fit  the  camp  for  its 
new  services,  the  army  appealed  to  the  Ked  Cross  for  aid, 
specifically  for  a  hospital  structure.  In  response,  Colonel 
Endicott,  the  Commissioner  for  Great  Britain,  visited 
Eomsey  to  learn  the  army's  plans  and  rather  definitely  its 
needs.  One  of  the  first  questions  he  asked  was  whether  the 
camp  was  to  be  permanently  occupied,  as  this  would 
naturally  govern  the  provisions  of  the  Red  Cross.  He  was 
told  that  this  was  what  the  army  intended  and,  further- 
more, as  there  would  always  be  five  or  six  thousand 
troops  in  the  camp  awaiting  transportation  to  the  front,  a 
hospital  of  at  least  250  beds  would  be  necessary.  Colonel 
Endicott's  answer  for  the  Red  Cross  was,  as  usual,  instantly 
forthcoming:  it  would  erect  a  hospital  capable  of  fulfill- 
ing all  such  requirements  and  all  possible  emergencies. 
Before  that,  however,  the  Red  Cross  would  provide 
thorough  equipment  for  the  tent  hospital  which  the  army 
must  continue  to  use  until  the  new  structure  should  be  com- 
pleted. On  the  following  day  a  large  consignment  of  beds, 
blankets,  mattresses,  beclcovering,  and  similar  hospital  ap- 
pliances was  dispatched  from  the  Red  Cross  warehouses  in 
London.  Also  the  Red  Cross  set  up  at  once  a  warm,  com- 
fortable hut  for  the  examination  of  patients. 


196  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

This  happened  in  the  spring,  England's  finest  season,  one 
for  which  she  might  almost  be  forgiven  her  winters  and 
there  were  months  of  fine  weather  ahead,  so  the  task  of  the 
Ked  Cross  in  constructing  a  building  of  the  dimensions  re- 
quired seemed  not  to  be  unusually  difficult.  But  soon  was 
the  awakening.  It  came  when  the  Red  Cross  cast  about  for 
labor  and  materials.  British  labor,  save  in  discouragingly 
small  units,  was  unobtainable  as  the  Government  at  that 
time  required  practically  every  ounce  of  the  Nation's  man- 
power. As  for  the  building-material  market,  it  had  few 
doors  open  and  these  scarcely  more  than  ajar.  In  such 
circumstances  the  Ked  Cross  had  but  one  hopeful  recourse, 
the  services  of  the  army  itself,  the  labor  of  its  own  men. 
In  this  the  army  was  more  than  willing  to  comply  but  it, 
too,  was  in  a  quandary.  It  explained  that  it  could  provide 
workers  only  from  labor  battalions  during  their  brief  and 
always  uncertain  intervals  of  halting  at  Romsey.  And  as 
these  battalions  were  at  that  time  being  concentrated  with 
all  speed  upon  the  construction  of  great  aerodromes  in  the 
eastern  and  southern  parts  of  England,  notably  at  Eastleigh 
in  Hants  and  Emsworth,  Eord  Junction  and  Tangmere  in 
Sussex,  few  men,  scarcely  more  than  fifty  or  seventy-five  at 
a  time,  could  be  promised  for  the  work. 

But  the  promise  sufficed  and  the  Red  Cross  went  into  the 
building  market  in  search  of  material  with  which  to 
build  not  a  swiftly-contrived  temporary  structure,  difficult 
enough  to  erect,  but  a  strong,  solid,  permanent  hospital  — 
a  labor  worthy  of  Hercules.  While  it  was  seeking  concrete, 
slate,  stone,  anything  that  might  be  obtained  in  the  neces- 
sary amounts,  a  lieutenant  in  the  army  who  had  been  an 
architect  in  Rhode  Island,  telegraphed  to  Red  Cross  Head- 
quarters that  he  had  obtained  an  option  on  a  quantity  of 
brick,  and  would  that  do  ?  It  not  only  would  do,  but  did, 
for  from  the  moment  the  receiver  went  back  on  the  hook, 
Romsey  Hospital  became  a  brick  hospital !  And  this  gave 
it  much  distinction  in  the  days  to  come.  Hitherto  such 
constructions,  however  substantial  and  adequate,  being 


THE  MIRACLE  OF  ROMSEY  107 

temporary,  had  always  looked  the  part.  Therefore  it  was 
not  to  be  wondered  at  that  subsequent  visitors  commented 
upon  the  Red  Cross  buildings  at  Romsey  with  the  re- 
mark, "  You  Americans  must  expect  the  war  to  last  a  long 
time  when  you  put  u]5  structures  like  that."  The  reply 
of  the  commanding  officer  was  informative  and  conclusive : 
"  We  hope  it  won't  last  long,"  he  said,  "  but  whether  it 
does  or  does  not,  we  must  have  comfortable  hospitals  for 
our  men  and  wre  and  the  Red  Cross  believe  that  the  best 
is  none  too  good  for  them." 

Although  every  one  was  interested,  vitally,  one  may  say, 
in  speeding  the  Romsey  task,  military  conditions  made 
this  impossible.  Working  squads  were  sometimes  detailed 
for  periods  of  two  or  even  three  weeks,  but  in  many  in- 
stances they  had  to  be  withdrawn  after  only  two  or  three 
days  of  employment.  There  might,  and  frequently  did, 
ensue  even  a  week's  delay  until  another  labor  battalion 
should  arrive  and  another  detail  of  men  be  assigned  to 
take  up  the  task  where  it  had  been  so  abruptly  dropped. 
Yet  this  was  the  only  method  by  which  the  thing  could 
be  done,  and  so  was  the  Romsey  Hospital  built.  However, 
looking  back  upon  even  the  most  discouraging  hours  when 
work  was  at  an  utter  standstill,  walls  half  finished,  walls 
just  begun,  material  lying  in  dead,  undisturbed  piles, 
there  is  prideful  satisfaction  in  the  knowledge  that  all  the 
labor  on  Romsey  hospital  was  done  by  American  soldiers. 
For  many  it  was  their  first  "  bit '  in  the  cause  for  which 
they  had  come  so  far,  and  they  went  about  it  with  a 
whistling,  singing  disregard  of  obstacles.  All  the  lumber 
used  for  the  roof  and  the  interior  trimming  was  cut  forty 
miles  away  in  the  New  Forest  ("  New  "  means  dating  back 
to  the  Saxon  Kings!),  sawed  in  small,  portable  mills, 
and  taken  out  in  American  motor  trucks  as  fast  as  it  was 
made  ready. 

Fortunately,  the  services  of  part  of  a  "  construction 
company '  were  obtained  to  lay  the  concrete,  and  direct 
certain  phases  of  allied  building  operations.  Many  of  the 


198  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

men  in  this  detachment  had  been  contractors  and  high- 
grade  artisans  well  over  draft  age  who  were  earning  large 
wages  at  home  before  their  enlistment.  At  Romsey,  how- 
ever, for  the  army's  stipulated  "  thirty  a  month  and 
rations,"  they  made  concrete,  pushed  wheelbarrows,  loaded 
and  unloaded  trucks,  did  everything  in  fact,  to  advance 
the  work.  The  concrete  laying  was,  for  a  time,  a  grave 
problem,  that  is,  until  the  Red  Cross  discovered  and  pur- 
chased an  American  mixing  machine  and  sent  it  out  to 
Romsey.  A  great  deal  of  extra  labor  might  have  been 
saved  in  the  early  days  of  the  work  if  the  Red  Cross  had 
been  able  to  purchase  what  contractors  call  an  ordinary 
"  grading  scoop,"  but  such  was  the  condition  of  the  market 
that  there  was  not  one  to  be  found  in  all  England.  For 
this  reason  it  was  necessary  in  leveling  to  take  out  all  the 
earth  with  picks,  shovels  and  barrows  instead  of  by  the 
quicker  and  simpler  method  of  horse-drawn  graders. 
Nevertheless,  the  work  went  forward  slowly  and  surely,  and 
course  by  course  the  walls  arose.  To  give  the  exterior 
of  the  buildings  a  touch  of  distinction,  the  mason  details 
"  raked  out '  the  seams  between  the  bricks,  leaving  the 
latter  in  relief,  this  method  of  brick-laying  being  seldom 
seen  in  England.  It  was  only  natural  that  the  soldier 
squads  should  take  great  pride  in  this  hospital  of  theirs. 
So  skillfully  and  untiringly  did  the  construction  and  labor 
units  perform  their  task  that  at  the  end  of  four  months, 
in  June,  1918,  the  Red  Cross  was  able  to  deliver  Romsey 
Hospital  to  the  army  medical  authorities,  ready  for  oc- 
cupancy with  an  initial  capacity  of  105  beds.  The  in- 
terior had  been  finished  with  the  same  care  as  that  given 
to  the  artistic  outer  walls,  the  wards  were  long  and  roomy, 
and  lighted  by  wide,  bright  windows.  There  were  com- 
pletely appointed  operating  and  X-ray  rooms,  smaller 
wards  for  special  cases,  diet  kitchens,  a  milk-pasteurizing 
plant,  and  gas  and  electric  equipment  throughout.  It  was 
truly  a  model  hospital. 

Nothing   bebter   illustrates   the    adaptability   and   ver- 


THE  MIRACLE  OF  ROMSEY  199 

satility  of  the  American  soldier  than  this  small  hospital. 
It  may  not  seem  a  feat,  to  construct  a  brick  hospital  in 
four  months,  but  if  one  takes  into  consideration  that  it  was 
erected  solely  by  the  labor  of  troops  which  halted  for  a 
brief  time  on  their  way  to  France,  that  adequate  tools  were 
sometimes  unprocurable,  that  not  infrequently  the  avail- 
able details  succeeded  one  another  at  two-day  intervals, 
and  that  there  were,  in  all,  weeks  when  no  work  could 
be  done,  it  must  be  accounted  a  real  achievement.  The 
passing  men  of  the  rest  camp,  even  those  whose  services 
lasted  no  more  than  a  day  or  two,  helped  the  Red  Cross 
to  write  an  ineffaceable  record  at  Eomsey.  In  time,  as  the 
buildings  were  finished,  the  hospital  grew  to  220  beds  and 
in  December,  1918,  its  fixed  capacity  was  260  patients, 
although  at  the  height  of  the  influenza  epidemic  it  had 
accommodated  more  than  three  hundred. 

But  the  hospital  was  only  the  beginning  of  Eed  Cross 
construction  work  at  Eomsey.  When  the  Americans  took 
the  camp  the  only  facilities  for  bathing  were  comprised  in 
a  draughty  shed  with  canvas  sides.  Here  was  installed 
a  bathing  appliance  known  as  the  "  petrol-tin  system." 
It  is  a  system  for  the  man  who  will  "  try  anything  once  ' 
and  never  again.  It  gives  not  so  much  a  bath  as  an  ex- 
perience. Two  old  gasoline  cans  were  suspended  from  the 
roof  of  the  "  structure '  and  the  man  desiring,  that  is, 
determined,  to  bathe  himself,  climbed  a  ladder  and  first 
filled  one  can  with  cold  water,  the  other  with  hot.  Then, 
getting  beneath  the  contraption,  he  pulled  the  strings  at- 
tached to  the  cans,  tipping  them  and  deluging  himself 
according  to  his  dexterity  and  agility.  If  he  missed  him- 
self with  the  tins  he  had  to  try  all  over  again.  By  this 
process  only  a  few  score  of  men  could  get  through  with  this 
aquatic  sport  in  the  course  of  a  morning  and  it  involved 
about  as  much  labor  as  a  "  hike,"  so  bathing  at  Eomsey 
was  in  a  fair  way  to  become  a  lost  art.  Just  at  that 
moment,  however,  the  Eed  Cross  stepped  into  the  situa- 
tion and  began  a  second  task,  that  of  erecting  suitable 


200  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

bath  houses  for  the  entire  camp.  And  as  brick  was  the 
only  material  to  be  obtained,  these  buildings  were  made 
part  of  the  architectural  scheme  which  had  been  com- 
menced with  the  hospital.  Three  large  houses  were  con- 
structed, equipped  with  showers  as  complete  and  sanitary 
as  those  of  any  gymnasium  in  America  and  capable  of  pro- 
viding baths,  hot  or  cold,  for  eight  thousand  men  a  day. 
So,  every  morning,  after  these  were  completed,  hundreds 
of  men  clad  in  raincoats  and  shoes  and  little  else,  filed 
from  tents  and  barracks  to  the  showers,  and  there  was  not 
a  man-Jack  among  them  who  didn't  bless  the  Red  Cross. 

At  one  end  of  each  bath-house  was  a  laundry  where  the 
men,  each  provided  with  soap,  a  tub  and  a  washboard, 
cleansed  their  clothing,  and  indeed,  came  to  fancy  them- 
selves quite  a  bit  over  the  way  they  "  did  up  ' '  their  shirts 
and  things. 

A  dental  hut,  recreation  buildings  for  privates  and  non- 
coms,  clubs  for  officers  and  nurses,  canteens  —  these  were 
other  works  of  the  Red  Cross  at  Romsey  and  the  best  testi- 
mony of  what  its  representatives  had  to  do  is  to  be  found 
in  the  following  extracts,  taken  at  random  from  the  weekly 
reports  of  the  officer  in  charge: 

The  influenza  epidemic  struck  this  camp  just  as  we  were  ready 
to  open  our  new  hospital.  We  rushed  the  final  work  and  were 
able  to  take  care  of  all  the  patients  as  they  came.  Fortunately, 
the  Ked  Cross  storehouses  were  well  stocked  with  blankets, 
pneumonia  jackets,  pajamas,  towels  and  all  the  other  things 
which  were  needed  in  this  emergency.  Every  man  of  the 
Red  Cross  staff  worked  eighteen  hours  a  day  during  the  time 
of  high  pressure  and  did  everything  from  helping  to  undress 
patients  to  carrying  in  supplies. 

The  Red  Cross  has  now  assisted  in  500  cases  of  American 
soldiers  unable  for  various  reasons  to  get  their  back  pay. 

We  had  in  camp  here  this  week  approximately  100  transient 
women  of  the  United  States  Army,  the  majority  being  tele- 
phone girls  and  nurses.  They  were  housed  by  the  Red  Cross 
and  we  did  all  we  could  to  make  their  stay  comfortable.  They 


THE  MIRACLE  OF  ROMSEY  201 

used  the  Red  Cross  reading  room  at  Abbotswood  in  the  eve- 
nings and  had  at  all  times  the  use  of  the  Red  Cross  Nurses'  Club 
in  the  camp. 

The  refitting  and  interior  work  on  the  Officers'  Club  is  now 
completed,  and  all  permanent  officers,  both  of  the  camp  and  hos- 
pital, are  now  quartered  in  rooms  on  the  upper  floors,  while  the 
lower  floors  include  mess-halls,  lounges,  reading  and  writing 
rooms,  not  only  for  the  permanent  officers  of  the  camp,  but  also 
for  the  scores  of  transients  who  are  found  in  the  camp  every 
day. 

The  Nurses'  Club  has  overflowed  its  old  quarters  and  a  piece 
of  land  adjacent  has  been  leased  on  which  a  large  hut  is  being 
erected  to  accommodate  the  overflow.  We  are  bearing  all  the 
expenses  in  connection  with  this  house. 

The  signing  of  the  Armistice  has  put  a  stop  to  the  construc- 
tion and  equipment  work  on  our  new  canteen  building  for  troops 
arriving  at  Romsey  Rest  Camp.  This  would  have  opened  in 
about  a  fortnight,  with  equipment  for  canteening  about  2,000 
troops  at  one  time. 

Red  Cross  activities  at  Romsey  were  discontinued  on 
December  11,  1918,  when  the  camp  was  evacuated  by  the 
American  Army.  Immediately  the  British  War  Office, 
recognizing  the  excellence  of  the  Red  Cross  structures, 
asked  if  it  might  not  take  them  over  in  connection  with 
the  demobilization  of  British  troops,  requesting  that  a  sale 
price  be  fixed.  The  reply  of  Colonel  Endicott  was,  in  ef- 
fect :  "  The  Red  Cross  will  accept  whatever  sum  you  de- 
cide as  measuring  their  worth  to  you."  As  the  Red  Cross 
owned  all  the  buildings  in  question  but  not  the  land  on 
which  they  stood,  it  was  agreed  that  the  British  should  oc- 
cupy them  and  appoint  a  commission  to  decide  upon  a  price 
after  a  thorough  appraisal  of  structures  and  equipment. 
So  the  British  went  in  on  March  1,  1919,  for  a  period  of 
one  year,  after  which  they  will  dispose  of  them  for  the 
account  of  the  American  Red  Cross.  The  original  cost  of 
the  buildings  and  their  fittings  was  £14,000,  approximately 
$70,000. 


202  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

At  Sarisbury  Court,  the  Ked  Cross  undertook  its  most 
ambitious  project.  It  determined  to  make  this  the  largest 
American  hospital  in  Great  Britain. 

The  resolution  was  born  of  one  of  the  gravest  military 
emergencies  of  the  war.  Germany,  with  the  supreme 
power  of  her  armies,  was  steadily  driving  toward  the 
coveted  Channel  ports.  The  British,  and  the  Americans 
brigaded  with  them,  were  striving  to  stay  this  apparently 
irresistible  advance  with  all  their  strength  and  tactics  of 
defense  and  counter-attack.  By  hundreds  the  wounded 
were  coming  back.  The  startling  German  successes 
aroused  the  fear  that  many  hospitals  in  France  and  Bel- 
gium might  have  to  be  evacuated.  The  British  authorities 
could  no  longer  spare  institutions  for  the  expected  inflow 
of  American  casualties.  Already  Hursley  Park,  Ports- 
mouth and  Tottenham  Hospitals  had  been  thus  relin- 
quished; all  others  and  more  would  be  sorely  needed  by 
the  British.  The  American  Army  was  in  extremity;  it 
must  have,  and  without  long  delay,  hospital  resources  well 
in  excess  of  those  then  provided  or  contemplated  by  both 
its  Medical  Corps  and  the  Red  Cross. 

What  was  more  natural  than  that  in  such  a  plight  it 
should  turn  again  to  the  Red  Cross  ?  It  asked  if  the  Com- 
mission for  Great  Britain  could  not  in  some  way  and  as 
soon  as  possible  obtain,  provide,  create  —  do  something 
to  give  it  a  hospital  near  Southampton,  the  main  port  to 
be  used  in  bringing  the  American  wounded  from  France. 

It  was,  perhaps,  not  an  easy  request  to  make,  for  its 
magnitude  was  obvious.  As  for  fulfillment  under  exist- 
ing conditions,  so  well  exemplified  at  Romsey, —  that  was 
almost  dismaying  because  the  army  made  it  clear  from  the 
beginning  that  what  it  wanted  was  a  hospital  capable 
of  taking  care  of  thousands  of  patients  -  -  thousands,  mind 
you ! 

But  the  Red  Cross  took  up  the  burden  with  characteris- 
tic eagerness  and  hope  and  sent  representatives  to  search 
the  countryside  for  miles  around  the  seaport.  And,  at  last, 


THE  MIRACLE  OF  ROMSEY  203 

after  many  days,  the  place  was  found.  It  was  in  sunny 
Hampshire,  an  estate  of  186  acres  on  Southampton  water, 
six  miles  from  the  port  in  a  bend  of  the  Eiver  Hamble  - 
Sarisbury  Court.  On  a  rise,  above  rolling  farmland, 
meadow  and  wood,  stood  the  Manor  House,  a  severe  Tudor 
pile  in  brick  and  stone,  massive,  three-  stories  in  height 
with  fifty  rooms.  It  had  been  built  about  thirty-five  years 
before  and  in  the  mind  of  the  owner  th&re  had  always 
been  a  lurking,  philanthropic  idea  of  converting  it  some 
day  into  a  sort  of  school  for  boys.  Its  adaptability  to 
hospital  purposes  was  instantly  and  encouragingly  ap- 
parent. In  addition,  the  estate  was  well-equipped  with 
smaller  buildings  —  stable,  garages,  greenhouses  and  cot- 
tages. 

So  enthusiastic  over  its  possibilities  were  the  officers 
of  the  Medical  Corps  that  the  Red  Cross  at  once  negotiated 
for  a  lease  of  the  estate.  The  owner,  however,  positively 
refused  to  entertain  any  such  proposition;  only  through 
outright  sale  would  he  part  with  Sarisbury  Court.  There- 
upon, the  Red  Cross  bargained  for  purchase.  The  price 
at  which  the  owner  held  the  property  was  so  unusually 
high  that,  for  a  time,  the  Red  Cross  considered  requesting 
the  British  War  Office  to  commandeer  it.  AY  ell  aware 
that  this  lay  within  the  province  of  the  Government,  the 
owner,  evidently  getting  wind  of  such  a  move,  promptly 
lowered  his  figures  and  the  Red  Cross  took  an  option  011 
the  estate. 

Just  at  this  time,  Eastertide,  1918,  Mr.  Henry  P.  Davi- 
son,  Chairman  of  the  War  Council  of  the  Red  Cross,  was 
in  England  upon  a  tour  of  inspection  of  the  organization's 
many  undertakings.  Accompanied  by  General  Ireland, 
Chief  Surgeon  of  the  American  Expeditionary  Forces  in 
France ;  General  Winter,  Chief  Surgeon  of  Base  Section 
3,  which  was  England;  Major  James  H.  Perkins,  Red 
Cross  Commissioner  for  Europe,  and  Colonel  Endicott,  he 
visited  Sarisbury  Court.  A  round  of  the  Manor  House 
and  the  extensive  acreage  of  the  estate  convinced  the  army 


204  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

surgeons  of  Salisbury's  suitability  for  the  purposes  de- 
sired. Several  times  during  the  tour  about  the  place, 
Mr.  Davison  asked  the  surgeons  if  the  establishment  and 
equipment  there  of  such  a  hospital  would  solve  certain 
vital  problems  of  the  Army  Medical  Corps  and  was  so 
assured  in  every  reply.  Upon  receiving  the  last  one,  he 
turned  to  Colonel  Endicott  and  in  eight  words  ended  the 
discussion :  "  When  you  return  to  London  exercise  your 
option."  In  this  way  Sarisbury  Court  came  into  Red 
Cross  hands  at  a  cost  of  £26,500. 

At  first  glance  this  may  seem  to  have  been  a  high  price, 
but  it  must  be  remembered  that  this  was  the  hour  of 
emergency,  when  the  only  consideration  which  could  be 
allowed  to  prevail  was  the  duty  owed  to  suffering  American 
soldiers.  The  ranking  army  authorities  not  only  sanc- 
tioned the  action,  but  Brigadier  General  Winter  wrote  the 
Red  Cross  to  say  that,  pursuant  to  verbal  instructions  from 
the  Chief  Surgeon,  A.  E.  F.,  transmitting,  in  turn,  the  in- 
structions of  General  Pershing,  he  was  justified  in  stating 
that  all  financial  obligations  incidental  to  the  hospitaliza- 
tion  project  at  Sarisbury  Court  would  be  assumed  by  the 
United  States  Government.  So  urgent  was  the  army  need 
that  it  asked  "  that  the  extension  of  this  hospital  be  made 
by  the  use  of  tents  and  that  arrangements  be  made  to  com- 
plete the  more  permanent  construction  before  «the  cold 
weather."  Also  it  was  requested  that  the  Red  Cross  "  im- 
mediately proceed  to  install  3,000  beds  if  possible." 

As  the  army's  first  specific  need  was  a  tent-hospital, 
this  was  the  initial  work  the  Red  Cross  undertook  at 
Sarisbury,  and  although  it  delayed  by  about  three  weeks 
the  opening  of  the  more  permanent  plant,  it  at  least  pro- 
vided the  Medical  Corps  with  means  of  caring  for  the 
wounded  who  were  expected  to  flow  into  England  in  July 
and  August. 

The  seventy  Bessoneau-type  touts  which  composed  it 
were  twenty  by  forty  feet  each  in  size,  were  double-roofed 
for  insulation,  had  side-wall  windows  and  were  in  every 


THE  MIRACLE  OF  ROMSEY  205 

way  suited  to  the  purpose.  They  were  set  up  near  the 
Manor  House  in  units  of  three  to  make  continuous  wards, 
each  unit  yielding  45  beds.  This  tent-hospital  is  deserv- 
ing of  especial  mention  as  an  illustration  of  the  manner  in 
which  the  American  Red  Cross  was,  during  the  war,  re- 
peatedly called  upon  to  make  preparations  for  emergencies 
and  that  it  could  respond  at  any  time  with  a  well-equipped 
"  base  hospital '  of  canvas  capable,  as  this  one  at  Saris- 
bury,  of  accommodating  1,000  patients  and  admitting  of 
indefinite  expansion. 

Meantime,  however,  work  had  been  begun  upon  the  con- 
version of  the  Manor  House,  including  the  installation  of 
adequate  heating  and  plumbing  systems,  the  rearrange- 
ment of  rooms  to  provide  a  total  ward  capacity  of  180  cots 
for  severe  cases,  and  an  enlargement  of  kitchen  facilities 
sufficient  to  prepare  food  for  1,800  people.  This  task, 
begun  about  the  middle  of  June,  was  completed  in  the 
first  week  in  August,  to  the  expressed  satisfaction  of  the 
Chief  Surgeon  of  the  base  who  inspected  it. 

The  adjustment  of  the  Manor,  the  provision  of  tem- 
porary structures  incrdeiit  to  a  tent-hospital,  the  setting 
up  of  a  canteen  composed  of  two  Red  Cross  hutments 
which  had  seen  service  during  the  South  African  War, 
had  been  comparatively  easy  of  accomplishment,  but  now 
the  Red  Cross  came  face  to  face  with  a  labor  to  try  men's 

i/ 

souls,  the  creation  of  the  great  permanent  hospital  which 
was  to  distinguish  Sarisbury  Court.  The  plans  which 
had  been  made  contemplated  ten  acres  of  substantial  ward 
buildings,  administration  offices,  quarters  for  a  large  staff 
of  doctors,  nurses  and  orderlies ;  laboratories,  storehouses, 
and  other  structures  essential  to  an  institution  of  3,000 
beds.  The  Red  Cross  knew  very  well  what  it  had  encount- 
ered at  Romsey,  the  delays,  the  disappointments ;  but  it 
tried  not  to  think  of  them,  bearing  in  mind  only  its  deter- 
mination to  make  Sarisbury  the  largest  and  finest  Ameri- 
can hospital  in  Great  Britain,  and  to  complete  it  by  the 
early  spring  of  1919. 


206  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

Sarisbury,  as  a  problem  of  construction,  differed  con- 
spicuously from  Komsey;  it  offered  no  opportunity  to  ob- 
tain the  services  of  passing  troops  and  therefore  must  be 
built  by  British  labor.  This  was  a  difficulty  only  equaled 
by  the  perennial  scarcity  of  material,  another  uncherished 
memory  of  Romsey. 

But  just  at  this  time,  when  the  perplexities  of  the  Red 
Cross  were  most  harassing,  Fate  brought  a  providential 
anti-climax.  The  expected  German  operations  which 
would  have  brought  hundreds  of  American  wounded  to 
England,  did  not  occur,  and,  mercifully,  the  great  city 
of  tents  was  never  populated  by  wounded.  At  all  events, 
it  had  been  in  readiness,  thoroughly  equipped  wTith  a  hos- 
pital unit  of  thirty-nine  surgeons  and  107  nurses  from  Lex- 
ington, Kentucky,  under  Colonel  Leonard  S.  Hughes,  in 
occupation,  and  did  its  bit  during  the  influenza  epidemic. 

As  the  emergency  which  kept  the  entire  Medical  Corps 
so  long  on  tiptoe  had  been  averted,  the  Red  Cross  did 
not  begin  constructing  the  Sarisbury  ward  buildings  until 
July  1st.  But  when  it  did,  difficulties  dogged  every  step. 
Existing  roads  had  to  be  repaired  or  new  ones  cut  to  facili- 
tate the  transportation  of  material  and  supplies,  not  only 
from  the  nearest  railway  station,  Sarisbury  Green,  a  mile 
and  a  quarter  away,  but  also  to  all  parts  of  the  extensive 
hospital  site;  the  avenue  of  approach  was  widened  to  per- 
mit ambulances  to  pass ;  a  channel  had  to  be  dredged  in  the 
River  Hamble  so  that  barges  of  coal  and  building  material 
from  Southampton  and  Portsmouth  might  reach  a  jetty 
on  the  estate,  and  it  was  necessary  to  set  up  a  300-yard 
aerial  ropeway  to  convey  these  commodities  from  the  jetty 
to  the  ward  reservation.  Lacking  a  construction  bureau, 
the  Red  Cross  was  again  compelled  to  seek  the  services 
of  the  British  engineer  who,  the  year  before,  had  designed 
and  superintended  the  work  at  Mossley  Hill. 

The  difficulties  encountered  at  Sarisbury  deserve  re- 
counting in  certain  detail,  not  only  because  they  were  sur- 
mounted, one  and  all,  but  for  the  "  deadly  parallel '  they 


THE  MIRACLE  OF  ROMSEY  207 

afforded  to  a  similar  undertaking  of  less  magnitude  made 
by  the  British,  in  which  they  were  unable  to  accomplish 
what  they  had  planned.  But  of  that,  later. 

Nearly  every  kind  of  material  used  in  building  Saris- 
bury  Hospital,  metal  particularly,  was  controlled  by  the 
British  Government's  system  of  priorities.  This,  estab- 
lished in  1915^  was  instituted  for  the  purpose  of  restrain- 
ing the  supply  of  materials  and  manufactured  articles  to 
persons  who,  offering  financial  inducements,  could  obtain 
those  goods  to  the  detriment  of  important  war  work. 
Therefore  4he  Priority  Department  of  the  Ministry  of 
Munitions,  taking  over  control  of  supplies  and  raw  ma- 
terials and  manufactures,  laid  down  three  classifications: 
Class  A,  definite  work  of  the  war;  Class  B,  incidental 
war  work  and  the  maintenance  of  industry;  Class  C,  all 
work  not  included  in  the  two  foregoing.  Class  A  was  sub- 
divided into  grades  of  priority  known  as  Pi,  P2,  P3,  P-i 
and  Po.  Under  these  classifications,  the  controlled  in- 
dustries were  allowed  to  supply  raw  material  or  manu- 
factured goods  only  in  the  order  of  priority.  For  example, 
work  classified  as  Al  must  be  finished  before  A2  work 
could  be  undertaken.  Similarly,  Pi  must  be  completed 
before  the  assumption  of  P2. 

War  hospitals  in  Great  Britain  were,  save  under  special 
circumstances,  classified  as  Class  A  —  P-i,  and  this  ap- 
plied to  all  manufactures  in  connection  wTith  hospital  con- 
struction or  equipment.  But  through  the  good  fortune 
which  watched  over  the  American  Red  Cross  during  all  its 

o 

service  in  Great  Britain,  it  not  only  managed,  somehow  or 
other,  to  purchase  material  for  Sarisbury  in  Class  A  —  P3, 
but  upon  one  occasion  got  them  in  Pi.  This  was  note- 
worthy indeed,  for  Pi  and  P2  were  almost  exclusively  re- 
served for  vital  munitions  of  war  -  -  cannon,  rifles,  am- 
munition, battleships  and  other  shipping. 

In  war  time,  planning  was  one  thing,  execution  quite 
another,  and  although  the  Red  Cross  squeezed  through  the 
very  narrow  crack  of  priority  doors,  material  in  quantity 


208  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

was  difficult  of  procurement  and  ingenuity  was  almost 
exhausted  in  making  the  Sarisbury  Court  estate  do  its 
share.  Prom  its  forests,  timber  was  cut  and  made  into 
boards  by  portable  sawmills,  a  pit  in  the  woods  near  the 
Manor  supplied  sand  and  gravel  which  was  pushed  along 
a  one-man-power  railway  laid  to  the  same  concrete  mixers 
which  the  Red  Cross  had  so  successfully  used  at  Komsey. 

England  was  taking  able-bodied  men  right  and  left  for 
her  armies  so  labor  difficulties  at  Sarisbury  were  increas- 
ing. They  ranged  from  scarcity  of  workmen  to  strikes. 
A  large  construction  force  was  demanded  for  the  proper 
and  expeditious  progress  of  such  an  undertaking  as  Saris- 
bury, a  plan  calling  for  the  erection  of  eighteen  double  ward 
buildings,  each  of  a  capacity  of  160  patients,  two  isola- 
tion wards,  not  to  mention  such  appurtenances  as  quarters 
containing  more  than  1,000  beds  for  doctors,  nurses, 
orderlies  and  women  servants  and  the  electric  and  power 
plants  and  a  roadway  lighting  system  throughout  the 
estate. 

The  climate  of  England  demanded  buildings  not  of  hap- 
hazard construction,  but  strong  and  solid,  impervious  to 
cold  and  dampness.  Skilled  artisans,  to  say  nothing  of 
numbers,  were  what  the  Red  Cross  needed,  but  it  had  to 
content  itself  with  small  bands  of  such  workmen  as  it 
could  gather  from  the  neighboring  cities.  These  were 
efficient  when  they  worked,  but  unfortunately,  they  were 
not  always  working.  The  installation  of  the  roadway 
lighting  system  brought  about  an  actual  labor  crisis.  Hop- 
ing to  speed  the  work,  the  services  of  eight  American 
soldiers  attached  to  the  Kentucky  hospital  unit  then  oc- 
cupying the  Manor  were  obtained  to  assist  in  setting  up 
the  poles  and  stringing  the  wires.  But  no  sooner  was  this 
under  way  than  Colonel  Endicott,  the  Commissioner,  re- 
ceived a  communication  from  the  Electrical  Workers' 
Union  of  Great  Britain  stating  that  as  the  soldiers  en- 
gaged in  this  occupation  were  not  members  of  its  organi- 
zation, every  Union  man  employed  on  the  hospital  would 


THE  MIRACLE  OF  ROMSEY  209 

be  called  out  unless  the  soldiers  were  immediately  taken 

v 

off  this  work.  The  letter  was  at  once  referred  to  the 
British  authorities,  who  advised  the  Red  Cross  to  follow 
the  line  of  least  resistance,  as  it  had  had  to  do  before,  and 
remove  the  soldiers  rather  than  precipitate  a  general  strike 
at  Sarisbury.  So  the  Red  Cross  yielded  and  left  the 
wiring  job  to  Union  men. 

When,  later,  it  was  of  utmost  importance  that  a  larger 
working  force  be  obtained,  the  Red  Cross  considered  the 
possibility  of  employing  German  prisoners  and,  jointly 
with  the  army,  applied  for  five  hundred.  But  this  led 
only  to  another  disappointment.  A  paragraph  in  the  "  In- 
ternational Agreement '  was  dug  up  which  held  that  the 
labor  of  no  prisoners  of  war  could  be  utilized  unless  the 
prisoners  were  housed,  and  "  housed '  meant  in  houses, 
not  tents.  Unfortunately  for  the  Red  Cross,  the  only 
housing  it  could  then  offer  was  that  provided  by  clean,  dry 
tents  which,  hitherto,  had  been  both  adequate  and  accept- 
able. Wherefore  that  idea  had  to  be  abandoned. 

Only  by  keeping  eternally  at  it,  undaunted,  undis- 
mayed, could  the  Red  Cross  maintain  the  work,  and  its 
own  people,  as  well  as  all  the  available  ones  in  the  hospital 
unit,  lent  a  hand.  In  the  case  of  the  latter,  it  brought  to 

'  /  O 

light  several  interesting  persons,  among  them  a  five-million- 
dollar  orderly  sergeant,  Louis  Haggin,  of  Lexington,  a  son 
of  the  noted  Kentucky  horse  breeder;  and  John  McCor- 

t->  7 

mack,  another  of  Kentucky's  wealthy  men,  who  enlisted  as 
"  chief  cook  ?  and  made  a  record  for  himself  in  a  new 
calling.  As  there  were  no  patients  then  in  the  hospital, 
the  staff  was  glad  to  give  all  the  aid  it  could  in  the  con- 
struction, doing  draughting  and  other  skilled  work  as  well 
as  manual  labor  until  such  time  as  the  arrival  of  patients 
would  require  their  services  as  orderlies. 

The  day  came  when  the  resolution  which  created  Saris- 
bury  Court  received  its  reward.  In  the  remembered 
autumn  of  1918  the  "  flu  '  epidemic  started.  Incoming 
transports  from  America  brought  hundreds  of  cases  and 


210  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

the  disease  spread  among  the  camps  like  wildfire.  To 
meet  so  grave  a  situation,  Sarisbury  was  opened  several 
weeks  in  advance  of  the  fixed  date  and  three  hundred 
patients  were  admitted  and  cared  for  with  all  the  prompt- 
itude and  comfort  they  would  have  received  in  a  great  city 
institution. 

In  the  course  of  the  building  of  Sarisbury  many  small 
problems  presented  themselves.  One  concerned  a  laundry, 
a  prime  necessity  for  a  hospital.  It  was  found  impracti- 
cable to  set  one  up  on  the  grounds  of  the  estate,  so  a  large 
modern  plant  at  Southampton  was  bought  outright  for 
$35,000.  It  had  a  capacity  of  20,000  pieces  of  washing 
a  week  and  the  Red  Cross  operated  it  not  only  for  Saris- 
bury Court  but  also  for  four  other  hospitals  in  the  military 
area. 

So  extensive  and  rich  were  the  Sarisbury  lands  that  the 
Red  Cross  tried  there  its  first  experiment  in  hospital  farm- 
ing in  England.  For  the  management  of  this  enterprise  it 
obtained  the  services  of  an  American  farmer  resident  in 
the  country  and  he  outlined  a  plan  of  expansion  which 
would,  eventually,  have  provided  all  the  necessary  dairy 
products,  ham  and  bacon,  poultry  and  eggs,  and  vegetables 
for  the  entire  hospital.  As  soon  as  this  undertaking  be- 
came known  abroad,  the  patriotic  people  of  the  little  islands 
of  Jersey  and  Guernsey  in  the  English  Channel  proffered 
their  aid  in  stocking  the  farm  with  pure-bred  dairy  cows. 
Mass  meetings  of  cattle  breeders  were  held  on  both  islands, 
each  group  enthusiastically  contributing  thirty  cows  from 
its  best  herds.  These  were  given  to  the  Red  Cross  to  ex- 
press appreciation  of  the  manner  in  which  America  had 
rationed  itself  in  order  to  increase  the  amount  of  food- 
stuffs shipped  abroad  at  the  time  of  the  food  crisis  in  the 
British  Isles.  Although  the  Government  had  for  two  years 
prohibited  the  exportation  of  cows  from  the  Islands,  even 
to  the  British  mainland,  a  special  license  was  procured  and 
twenty  of  the  pedigreed  cattle  were  immediately  shipped 
to  Sarisbury. 


THE  MIRACLE  OF  ROMSEY  211 

From  such  beginnings  Salisbury  Court  would  have  gone 
steadily  onward  until  it  had  exceeded  even  the  highest 
hopes  and  ambitions  that  had  inspired  its  foundation  and 
guided  its  growth.  But  the  abrupt  coming  of  the  Ar- 
mistice left  it  suspended  in  mid-air,  as  it  were.  The  army, 
which  had  clung  to  its  request  for  a  3,000-bed  hospital,  now 
decided  that  Sarisbury  should  be  only  a  1,200-bed  institu- 
tion, and,  perhaps,  this  is  the  best  moment  in  which  to  say 
that  1,200  beds  was  the  maximum  capacity  the  Red  Cross 
had  originally  advised,  although  it  yielded  to  the  Army's 
wish  for  an  institution  nearly  thrice  that  size.  The 
larger  building  plans  and  the  extension  of^the  farm  pro- 
ject were,  therefore,  at  once  relinquished,  but  the  work 
was  carried  on  to  the  extent  that  in  January,  1919,  it  com- 
prised, in  addition  to  the  Manor  House  and  the  original 
farm  buildings  and  servants'  and  tenants'  cottages,  these 
well-designed,  well-built  structures :  twelve  wards  of  sev- 
enty-eight beds  each,  a  total  of  836  beds ;  a  block  of  medical 
officers'  quarters  for  seventy-two  beds,  one  for  nurses  of  112 
beds  and  one  for  orderlies  of  125  beds;  a  large  operating 
theater,  a  mortuary,  recreation  hall,  bathhouse,  dining  hall 
for  enlisted  men,  and  the  electric  power  plants  already 
mentioned.  And  if  Sarisbury  Court  did  not  become  a 
3,000-bed  institution,  it  did  become  the  main  hospital  for 
the  American  Army  in  Great  Britain. 

The  building  of  Romsey  and  Sarisbury  Court  may 
justly  be  accounted  achievements,  all  things  considered,  and 
nothing  can  so  accentuate  this  as  a  parallel,  as  a  regretful 
but  illuminating  reference  to  an  experience  of  the  British 
Red  Cross  Society  in  hospital  construction.  To  do  this  in 
fairness,  it  is  necessary  to  go  back  to  1917.  As  a  means  of 
special  appeal,  the  British  organization  had  set  apart 
October  17  of  that  year  for  a  kingdom-wide  collection 
of  contributions  to  its  funds.  The  day  was  called  "  Our 
Day."  The  American  Red  Cross,  its  Commission  for 
Europe  then  only  four  months  old,  responded  to  this  ap- 


212  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

peal  by  subscribing  £200,000,  approximately  $1,000,000. 
This  gift  was  conveyed  to  Sir  Robert  Hudson,  head  of  the 
Society,  in  the  following  letter: 

THE  AMERICAN  EED  CROSS,  LONDON  CHAPTER, 
40  GROSVENOR  GARDENS,  LONDON,  S.  W.  1. 

October  17,  1917 

MY  DEAR  SIR  EGBERT  :  The  American  Ked  Cross  takes  great 
pleasure  in  subscribing  for  tl  Our  Day  "  £200,000  to  be  used  for 
the  following  purposes : 

£50,000  for  relief  and  comforts  to  sick  and  wounded  in  hos- 
pitals, casualty  clearing  stations  and  on  lines  of  communication 
in  territories  where  British  forces  are  fighting. 

£50,000  for  the  maintenance  of  British  Red  Cross  auxiliary 
hospitals  and  convalescent  homes  in  England. 

£100,000  for  institutions  in  Great  Britain  for  orthopedic  and 
facial  treatment  and  for  general  restorative  work  for  disabled 
British  soldiers. 

The  distribution  of  these  funds  is,  of  course,  to  be  entirely 
at  your  discretion. 

May  I  express  the  peculiar  satisfaction  that  we  feel  in  mak- 
ing this  subscription?  From  the  standpoint  of  our  best  judg- 
ment we  rejoice  in  an  opportunity  to  assist  in  the  superb  work 
that  you  are  doing  to  relieve  suffering  and  distress.  But,  in  a 
larger  way,  we  hope  that  you  will  accept  our  contribution  as 
an  earnest  of  the  desire  of  our  people  to  begin  to  take  our  share 
of  the  burden  of  the  war  which  your  forces  have  waged  for  three 
years  on  behalf  of  the  whole  civilized  world. 

Very  truly  yours, 
(Signed)  GRAYSON  M.-P.  MURPHY, 

Major,  A.  E.  C.,  U.  S.  A., 
American  Eed  Cross  Commissioner  for  Europe. 

This  contribution,  which  earned  the  appreciation  of  the 
entire  English  people,  was  followed,  on  March  28,  1918, 
by  a  second  one  of  £250,000.  In  transmitting  it,  Colonel 
Endicott  wrote  Sir  Robert  Hudson: 


THE  MIRACLE  OF  KOMSEY  213 

I  am  authorized  by  the  War  Council  of  the  American  Red 
Cross  to  give  to  the  British  lied  Cros-i  ^_."»0,000  and  I  take  great 
pleasure  in  handing  you  herewith  our  check  for  that  amount. 

We  realize  how  little  it  is  in  our  power  to  lessen  the  horrors 
of  war,  but  we  feel  it  a  privilege  to  aid  by  this  contribution  in 
the  care  of  the  wounded  who  have  so  gallantly  fought  for  the 
cause  which  is  now  ours  as  well  as  yours,  and  to  alleviate  as  far 
as  possible  the  suffering  caused  by  the  great  battle  now  raging 
in  France. 

May  we  therefore,  ask  that  you  use  this  money  for  the  pur- 
chase of  hospital  supplies  and  the  care  of  the  sick  and  wounded. 

This  donation  is  accompanied  by  our  heartiest  good  wishes 
and  our  sincere  appreciation  of  the  wonderful  work  that  your 
society  has  accomplished. 

As  a  tangible  token  of  thanks  for  these  two  donations, 
the  British  Red  Cross  in  June,  1918,  expressed  its  de- 
sire to  build  and  equip  as  fine  a  500-bed  hut-hospital  as 
the  Kingdom  could  provide,  and  present  it  outright  to  the 
American  Eed  Cross.  It  explained  the  offer  by  saying  it 
felt  sure  that  American  hospital  needs  would  be  far  in 
excess  of  those  anticipated  and,  therefore,  wished  to  be  of 
all  possible  service  in  solving  the  approaching  problem. 
And  by  way  of  an  inkling  of  what  this  hospital  promised 
to  be,  King  George  offered  to  lend  the  land  for  it  in  his 
own  Windsor  Great  Park.  Colonel  Endicott  communi- 
cated this  gracious  proposal  to  the  War  Council  at  Wash- 
ington, which  replied  with  enthusiastic  acceptance. 

Unfortunately,  however,  succeeding  steps  in  the  project 
disclosed  the  fact  that  Windsor  Great  Park  was  unsuit- 
able for  drainage  purposes,  owing  to  its  clay  formation. 
When  the  King  was  informed  of  this  be  immediately 
proffered  a  site  in  Richmond  Park,  which  was  found  to  be 
advantageous  in  every  way,  and  a  location  on  high  ground 
overlooking  miles  of  country  was  accordingly  selected. 

Work  was  begun  in  June,  1918,  the  British  Red  Cross 
explaining  that  it  intended  to  build  the  hospital  through 
the  agency  of  His  Majesty's  Office  of  Works  which,  re- 
lieved of  the  obligation  of  obtaining  priority  certificates, 
could  accomplish  construction  with  more  expedition  than 


214  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

the  ordinary  contractor.  It  was  expected,  under  this  con- 
dition, to  have  the  hospital  finished  and  ready  for  occu- 
pancy in  the  following  September,  three  months  from  the 
commencement  of  work. 

Three  weeks  after  the  signing  of  the  Armistice,  or  about 
December  1st,  the  British  Eed  Cross  informed  the  Ameri- 
can Red  Cross  in  England  that  in  spite  of  every  effort  on 
its  part  and  on  that  of  the  Office  of  Works,  the  hospital 
was  then  so  far  from  completion  that  it  did  not  seem  pos- 
sible to  finish  it  before  March  1st,  1919,  and,  perhaps, 
not  until  thirty  days  thereafter.  By  this  time  the  Ameri- 
can Red  Cross  had  no  need  for  this  graciously  offered 
institution  and,  with  much  reluctance,  so  replied  to  the 
British  organization  and  work  upon  it  was  therefore 
stopped. 

With  the  next  coming  of  "  Our  Day,"  on  October  24th, 
1918,  the  American  Red  Cross  made  a  third  donation  to 
the  allied  British  organization,  this  time  to  the  amount  of 
£500,000,  bringing  the  total  of  these  contributions  to  £950,- 
000,  or  about  four  million  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand dollars  ($4,750,000).  The  check  conveying  this 
sum,  which  had  been  voted  by  the  War  Council  at  Wash- 
ington, was  presented  to  Sir  Robert  Hudson  during  a 
dinner  given  by  Colonel  Endicott  to  the  representatives  of 
the  British  Red  Cross  and  Order  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem, 
a  number  of  notable  Englishmen  and  Americans  being 
present,  including  the  Duke  of  Connaught,  Lord  Reading, 
General  Biddle  and  Admiral  Sims.  In  the  brief  speech 
of  presentation,  Colonel  Endicott  said : 

"  You  have  placed  at  our  disposal  your  entire  organiza- 
tion, and  I  could  cite  countless  instances  of  your  valuable 
assistance.  It  is  manifestly  impossible  for  us  to  return 
in  kind  your  many  kindnesses,  but  we  should  be  sadly 
lacking  in  appreciation  if  we  did  not  make  some  effort  to 
show  our  gratitude.7' 

In  the  same  key  was  a  letter  accompanying  the  gift, 


THE  MIRACLE  OF  ROMSEY  215 

which  was  written  to  Sir  Robert  Hudson  by  Mr.  Henry 
P.  Davison,  and  read  at  the  dinner: 

Again  on  the  occasion  of  "  Our  Day  "  anniversary,  it  becomes 
the  privilege  of  the  American  Red  Cross,  acting  for  the  Ameri- 
can people,  to  endeavor  to  express  in  a  concrete  and  material 
way  the  appreciation  of  that  people  for  the  stupendous  and  con- 
stantly increasing  effort  during  four  years  of  war  on  the  part 
of  the  indomitable  men  and  women  of  Great  Britain  whom  we 
have  joined  in  an  unfaltering  resistance  to  the  deadliest  menace 
to  which  civilization  bas  ever  been  subjected. 

It  is  with  a  feeling  of  thankfulness  and  gratitude  that  we 
are  able  to  ask  you  to  accept  from  the  American  Red  Cross 
on  behalf  of  the  American  people,  this  check  for  five  hundred 
thousand  pounds  to  be  used  in  such  ways  as  the  experienced 
judgment  of  your  Society  may  suggest,  confident  in  our  belief 
that  in  this  way  the  best  results  will  be  attained,  and  that  in  the 
immortal  words  of  Lincoln,  it  is  our  duty  to  dedicate  all  our 
resources  and  all  our  strength  to  insure  "  that  those  who  have 
died  shall  not  have  died  in  vain." 

With  the  deepest  appreciation  of  all  that  the  British  Red 
Cross  and  Order  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem  has  done  for  the 
American  Red  Cross,  and  conscious  of  the  fact  that  in  your 
hands  this  money  will  be  spent  so  as  best  to  serve  the  identical 
aims  of  our  two  societies  .  .  . 

After  Sir  Robert  had  formally  accepted,  the  Duke  of 
Connaught  also  thanked  the  American  Red  Cross  and 
added : 

"  I  am  confident  that  gifts  of  this  sort  help  to  bind  closer 
for  all  time  the  great  Red  Cross  organizations  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic.  Meeting  at  this  moment,  we  cannot 
but  hope  that  this  may  prove  to  be  the  last  great  war  ap- 
peal of  the  Joint  War  Committee.  To  all  of  us,  and 
we  hope  to  all  of  you,  it  will  ever  be  a  pleasant  memory 
that  out  of  evil  came  good  and  out  of  the  terrible  suffer- 
ing of  the  war  have  grown  a  clearer  comprehension  of  one 
another's  aims  and  a  closer  cooperation  in  our  common 
work  of  humanity." 

In  addition  to  these  gifts   to  the  British  Red  Cross 


216  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

numerous  American  women  in  England,  members  of  the 
American  organization,  helped  in  many  ways  on  "  Our 
Day  "  to  increase  the  popular  subscription,  establishing 
themselves  in  a  store  in  Bond  Street,  and  decorating  it 
with  American  and  Red  Cross  flags. 

The  three  donations  made  by  the  War  Council  indi- 
cate that  the  American  Red  Cross  did  not  confine  itself 
to  work  in  purely  American  hospitals  nor  through  dis- 
tinctly American  channels.  It  was  always  eager  to  do 
anything  it  could  to  aid  war  humanities,  and  the  Com- 
mission for  Great  Britain  contributed  funds  and  supplies 
wherever  they  were  needed.  It  gave  a  $30,000  Christmas 
gift  in  tobacco,  pipes,  and  cigarettes  to  the  British  enlisted 
men  lying  wounded  in  British  hospitals ;  it  sent  the  Lord 
Mayor  of  London  a  check  for  $25,000  "  as  a  token  of 
the  appreciation  which  Americans  feel  for  the  care  given 
to  American  wounded  in  the  London  civil  hospitals,"  to 
be  distributed  among  these  institutions;  it  gave  $100,000 
to  the  Scottish  Women's  Hospitals  for  Home  and  Foreign 
Service  in  recognition  of  Miss  Kathleen  Burke' s  work  for 
these  hospitals  and  to  enable  her  to  give  more  time  to 
American  Red  Cross  activities,  this  money  being  used  for 
institutions  in  France,  Serbia,  Macedonia,  Russia,  and 
Corsica;  it  contributed  $185,000  to  the  British  National 
League  for  Health,  Maternity  and  Child  Welfare  to  main- 
tain eight  American  Red  Cross  Maternity  Centres,  two 
being  in  London,  and  one  each  in  Glasgow,  Aberdeen, 
Swansea,  Birkenhead,  Middlesborough,  and  Barrow-in- 
Furness,  and  day  nurseries  and  mother's  schools  in  sev- 
eral parts  of  the  Kingdom. 

Indeed,  one  of  the  very  first  gifts  made  by  the  Ameri- 
can Red  Cross  for  British  relief  work  was  the  sum  of 
$20,000  to  establish  infant  welfare  centers  in  Great 
Britain.  Part  of  this  gift  was  devoted  by  the  National 
Baby-Week  Council  to  the  establishment  of  a  center  in 
Bethnal  Green,  a  suburb  of  London.  This  center,  typical 


THE  MIRACLE  OF  ROMSEY  217 

of  such  a  form  of  much-needed  endeavor,  was  fitted  up  in 
a  building  which  had  been  a  public  house,  or  saloon.  As 
usual,  this  was  one  of  the  best  buildings  in  the  district. 
When  the  Government  prohibited  the  sale  of  drink  save 
during  stated  hours,  many  of  the  saloons  in  London  were 
ready  to  go  out  of  business,  so  it  was  not  a  difficult  matter 
to  obtain  these  premises.  Public  houses,  even  in  the 
slums,  have  always  been  able  to  afford  any  luxury  that 
would  make  their  exteriors  more  attractive,  and  this  one 
sported  an  alluring  sign  hung  from  an  ornamental  and 
ancient  bracket.  When  the  "  pub '  went  out  and  the 
"  centre  '  went  in,  the  sign  was  repainted  by  an  "  artist ' 
of  the  neighborhood,  who  had  been  engaged  for  the  work 
by  an  American  woman  living  in  London.  In  its  new 
dress  it  read :  "  American  Red  Cross  Maternity  And 
Child  Welfare  Center,"  with  the  Stars  and  Stripes  rippling 
between  the  lines  of  lettering. 

The  transformation  of  the  "  pub  '  was  as  complete  as 
cleaning  and  painting  could  make  it,  but  the  entire  cost 
of  conversion,  furniture,  gas-stoves  and  plumbing  rear- 
rangement was  only  $1,200.  All  the  work  was  done  by 
neighborhood  workmen,  wrho  took  proprietary  interest  in 
their  old  rendezvous,  and  who,  without  exception,  were 
thankful  to  have  it  transformed  into  a  place  where  their 
children  might  find  health  and  amusement  and  their 
womenfolk  advice  and  recreation.  As  the  man  who  was 
laying  the  linoleum  there  one  day  said  to  a  Eed  Cross 
representative,  "  Drink  was  all  right  before  the  war,  an' 
I  took  my  drop  with  the  rest  of  'em,  but  it's  the  babies 
we  got  to  look  arfter  now,  the  babies  what  we  fought  for. 
An'  what's  a.  drop  o'  gin  against  them,  I  arsk  ye  ? ' 


This  will  convey  a  comprehensive  idea  of  the  extent 
of  the  indirect  work  of  the  organization  in  Great  Britain 
and  although  the  British  Red  Cross  received  the  largest 


218  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

share  of  contributions,  the  total  of  funds  donated  by  the 
American  Red  Cross  between  November  1st,  1917,  and 
February  28th,  1919,  was  in  excess  of  five  million  dollars. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE    WATER-GATE    TO    FRANCE SOUTHAMPTON 

AS  Southampton  was  the  chief  British  port  from  which 
American  troops  embarked  for  France,  Red  Cross 
activities  there  were  intense.     More  than  913,000  Amer- 
ican  soldiers   sailed  from   Southampton.     Nor  does  this 
mark  the  full  tally  of  Red  Cross  service,  for  there  were 

•> 

other  thousands  which  came  in  from  the  Northern  sec- 
tors of  the  battle  front,  sick  and  wounded  men,  in  need 
of  much  care,  and  these,  too,  were  attended  in  the  measure 
of  their  needs. 

Originally  Southampton  was  comprised  within  the  Win- 
chester area  of  Red  Cross  work,  but  military  activity  be- 
came so  great  at  the  port  that  a  small,  triangular  zone  was 
detached  from  Winchester  early  in  June,  1918,  with 
Southampton  as  its  official  center.  The  new  area  thus 
created  included  four  American  camps,  one  in  Southamp- 
ton Common,  two  miles  outside  the  city,  the  others  at 
JSTetley,  Beaulieu,  and  Eastleigh ;  four  hospitals,  the  great 
one  at  Sarisbury  Court,  another  in  the  rest  camp  on  the 
Common  and  the  British  hospitals  at  Netley  and  Shirley, 
which  received  large  numbers  of  American  patients;  two 
infirmaries  at  Eastleigh  and  Beaulieu,  the  Red  Cross  farm 
at  Sarisbury,  the  Red  Cross  Laundry,  and  the  endless 
movement  at  the  docks. 

During  the  time  Southampton  was  employed  mainly 
with  the  transportation  of  -troops  to  the  Continent,  that  is, 
from  February,  1918,  to  the  following  November,  868,358 
enlisted  men,  45,141  officers,  6,872  nurses,  4,381  tons  of 
stores  and  1,543  vehicles  passed  through.  When  the 

stream  began  to  flow  the  other  way,  10,000  wounded  or 

219 


220  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

ill  American  -soldiers  and  9,000  returned  prisoners  of  war 
of  several  allied  nations  came  through  the.  port.  And  long 
after  the  Armistice  was  signed,  as  late  as  March,  1919, 
hundreds  of  men,  on  two  weeks'  leave  from  France,  passed 
on  their  way  to  holidays  in  England,  Scotland,  Wales  and 
Ireland  and  then,  in  fourteen  days,  again  took  ship  for 
their  return.  All  the  men  of  these  hundreds  of  thousands 
were  welcomed  by  the  Red  Cross,  received  canteen  serv- 
ice or,  in  the  case  of  the  leave  men,  a  well-filled  luncheon 
box  to  cheer  them  on  their  journey  back  to  duty.  Cloth- 
ing was  distributed  where  it  was  needed,  comfort  kits  were 
provided,  everything  done  that  could  be  done. 

The  Red  Cross  maintained  a  large  office  in  Southampton 
as  a  base  for  the  work  with  the  passing  troops  as  well  as 
the  point  from  which  the  building  operations  art  the  big 
Sarisbury  Court  Base  Hospital  were  directed.  The 
Southampton  staff  was  of  constant  service  to  the  officers 
of  the  Army  Medical  Corps  stationed  at  the  rest  camp 
hospital  and  at  their  request  various  tasks  of  furnishing 
and  renovating  were  done  in  the  hospital  hutments,  the 
staff  and  other  officers'  quarters. 

However,  Red  Cross  work  naturally  centered  about  the 
docks  and  the  canteen  service  there  had  a  large  equip- 
ment with  facilities  for  serving  any  number  of  troops. 
In  one  day  more  than  15,000  cups  of  coffee  were  given 
to  the  men  as  they  filed  to  the  transport  gangways.  At 
the  rest  camp  there  was  also  "  field  service  '  by  the  can- 
teen workers  for  the  soldiers  who  came  marching  in,  dusty 
and  thirsty,  from  Winchester,  Romsey,  Stanton  and  Cod- 
ford,  distances  varying  from  eight  to  ten  miles,  the  route 
from  Romsey  being  over  one  of  the  finest  Roman  roads 
in  Britain,  on  their  way  to  embarkation.  The  men  usually 
reached  the  camp  at  about  noon  in  detachments  ranging 
from  500  to  6,000.  Here  they  were  marched  to  a  glade 
called  "  Back  o'  the  Walls,"  where  Cromwell's  men  had 
camped  in  Roundhead  days,  and  where  now  the  Red  Cross 
and  the  American  flags  flew  over  four  big  portable  counters 


THE  WATER-GATE  TO  FRANCE— SOUTHAMPTON    221 

loaded  with  food  about  which  stood  twenty  canteen  ex- 
perts in  readiness  for  the  task.  So  skillful  did  the  young 
women  on  duty  become  that  as  many  as  5,000  men  could 
be  provided  with  coffee,  sandwiches  or  buns,  chocolate  and 
cigarettes  in  one  hour.  This  work  began  early  in  August 
and  was  continued  until  shortly  after  the  Armistice.  For 
a  long  time  it  was  the  only  coffee  canteen  the  embarking 
soldiers  had,  because,  in  the  judgment  of  the  British  Mili- 
tary Authorities  it  was  unwise  to  permit  such  a  canteen 
on  the  docks.  There  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  serious  respon- 
sibilities of  the  officer  in  charge  of  so  important  a  port  as 
Southampton,  with  its  vast  fleet  of  arriving  and  depart- 
ing shipping  and  its  legions  of  passing  soldier)'  upon  whom 
so  much  depended.  Everything  about  the  docks  had  to  be 
performed  with  the  utmost  expedition  and  the  command- 
ing officer  felt  that  his  burden  of  responsibility  would  be 
much  augmented  if  others  than  those  directly  attached  to 
the  military  or  naval  services  be  granted  access  to  the  piers. 
So  this  was  the  reason  the  Red  Cross  established  its  coffee 
canteen  in  the  glade  "  Back  o'  the  Walls." 

The  influenza  epidemic  of  the  late  summer  and  early 
autumn  of  1918  brought  its  emergency  calls  upon  the 
Southampton  area  as  upon  every  other  Red  Cross  area  in 
Great  Britain.  The  climax  of  the  scourge  in  Southampton 
came  with  the  arrival  of  the  great  liner  Olympic  on  Sep- 
tember 29th,  carrying  6,000  troops  and  150  other  pas- 
sengers. When  she  docked  at  the  long  pier  in  front  of 
Red  Cross  headquarters  the  epidemic  had  just  begun  to 
assert  itself  aboard  and  she  came  in  with  400  cases.  But 
during  the  next  two  days,  before  the  troops  had  been  de- 
barked, the  number  of  victims  had  increased  to  2,000. 

At  that  time  the  weather  was  very  unfavorable  in 
Southampton.  It  was  cold  and  wet,  the  air  filled  with 
the  thick,  chilling  mist  so  characteristic  of  the  low  coasts 
of  southern  England  at  that  time  of  the  year.  This  was 
particularly  unfortunate  as  the  troops  aboard  the  Olympic 
were  from  training  camps  in  the  mild  climate  of  the 


222  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

the  Southern  States  and  therefore  keenly  susceptible  to  so 
great  a  change  in  climate  conditions.  For  this  reason  the 
medical  authorities  hesitated  to  set  them  ashore,  especially 
as  the  only  place  to  which  they  could  be  taken  there  in  the 
port  was  Southampton  Rest  Camp  situated  on  low,  damp 
ground  and  without  sufficient  facilities  for  taking  care  of 
a  great  number  of  sick  men  and  of  those  who  had  been 
exposed  to  an  epidemic  such  as  had  raged  on  the  ship. 
Most  of  the  housing  of  the  camp  was  in  tents  without  cots 
and  the  men  had  to  sleep  on  floors  which  consisted  merely 
of  one  layer  of  thin  boards  raised  only  a  few  inches  above 
the  moist  ground. 

So,  for  a  day  or  two,  the  men  were  detained  on  the 
Olympic  and  the  doctors  tried  to  fight  the  disease  on  ship- 
board. But  the  influenza  became  so  virulent  that  it  was 
necessary,  finally,  to  debark  the  troops  and  take  them  to 
the  rest  camp  in  spite  of  the  inadequate  quarters  and  care 
that  could  be  offered  them  there.  From  the  time  that 
the  big  troopship  came  to  her  pier  until  she  was  entirely 
unloaded,  sick  soldiers  were  being  taken  from  her  con- 
stantly. Of  those  who  contracted  the  "  flu '  on  the 
Olympic  it  was  said  that  fully  a  third  developed  pneu- 
monia and  that  the  proportion  of  fatalities  was  very  large. 
The  medical  authorities  in  the  hospitals  around  Southamp- 
ton were  well  provided  to  deal  with  any  ordinary  outbreak 
of  disease,  but  this  emergency  taxed  to  the  breaking  point 
all  their  accommodations  and  preparations.  Supplies,  not 
only  of  drugs  and  equipment,  but  also  of  doctors  and 
nurses,  were  rapidly  exhausted.  The  Bed  Cross  responded 
with  all  its  resources.  Its  representatives  boarded  the 
Olympic  as  soon  as  she  came  in  and  thus  learned  the  con- 
dition of  things.  It  was  able  from  the  beginning,  through 
all  the  time  in  which  conditions  grew  steadily  worse,  to 
keep  in  touch  with  the  authorities  and  furnish  a  steady 
stream  of  medicines,  instruments,  bedding,  ambulances  and 
oxygen  tanks  in  response  to  the  requests  of  the  Army 
Medical  Corps.  There  was  particularly  a  shortage  of  am- 


THE  WATER-GATE  TO  FRANCE— SOUTHAMPTON    223 

bulances  and  the  Red  Cross  turned  over  to  the  army 
every  one  of  its  wheeled  vehicles  for  use  in  conveying  the 
sick  to  hospitals. 

Sarisbury  Court,  the  big  American  Red  Cross  hospital 
just  outside  of  Southampton,  had  not  yet  been  opened 
and  the  plans  did  not  call  for  this  for  some  weeks,  but  in 
view  of  the  tragic  emergency,  the  plans  were  at  once 
changed  and  by  dint  of  strenuous  endeavor  it  was  possible 
to  arrange  matters  so  that  the  hospital  could  immediately 
receive  about  300  patients  By  good  fortune,  the  army 
medical  unit  assigned  to  Sarisbury  was  already  on  the 
ground  although  many  of  its  personnel  had  been  loaned 
temporarily  to  other  hospitals.  Colonel  Hughes,  the  com- 
manding officer,  recalled  every  surgeon,  nurse  and  enlisted 
man  he  could  find  and  was  able  to  take  care  of  the 
Olympic  s  men  as  they  arrived. 

During  this  period,  the  personnel  of  the  Red  Cross  at 
Southampton  worked  day  and  night  without  respite,  co- 
operating closely  with  the  army  authorities  and  acting 
always  in  the  most  cordial  harmony  with  them.  All  the 
supplies  asked  for  were  of  an  emergency  character  and 
instant  delivery  was  obviously  essential  and  as  many  of 
the  things  needed  were  not  to  be  found  in  the  Red  Cross 
warehouses  at  Southampton,  they  were  purchased  either 
there  in  the  city  or  by  telegraph  in  London  and  conveyed 
in  Red  Cross  automobiles  all  the  way  to  the  port  to  avoid 
any  possibility  of  delay  in  train  shipments.  More  than 
2,000  suits  of  heavy  underwear  for  the  men  of  the 
Olympic  were  obtained  from  the  army  quartermaster  in 
London. 

The  advantage  which  the  Red  Cross  always  had  in  an 
emergency  of  this  kind  was  its  ability  to  cut  all  the  red 
tape  of  formal  "  requisitions  "  and  "  appropriations  "  and 
procure  immediate  delivery  of  the  needed  supplies.  And 
more  than  once  this  enabled  it  to  be  of  incalculable  assist- 
ance to  the  army.  Two  incidents  in  its  service  for  the 
Olympic  s  men  are  remarkable  by  reason  of  the  unusual 


224  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

sort  of  aid  it  rendered.  Colonel  Endicott,  the  Commis- 
sioner, was  in  Southampton  when  the  Olympic's  sick  were 
brought  ashore.  One  of  the  army  surgeons  came  up  with 
despair  in  every  feature. 

"  We  are  terribly  up  against  it,"  he  said ;  "  we  have 
no  whiskey  at  all  for  these  men.  I've  searched  every- 
where and  can't  get  a  drop.  If  we  don't  get  it  —  well, 
it  will  be  mighty  bad  for  a  lot  of  our  boys." 

Colonel  Endicott,  who  knew  what  this  meant,  said  he 
would  try  to  get  some,  and  hurrying  into  his  car  he  went 
at  top  speed  to  the  largest  hotel  in  the  city  where  he 
offered  to  buy  then  and  there  every  bottle  of  whiskey 
in  the  hostelry's  cellar  at  any  price.  The  proprietor,  de- 
murring at  first  on  account  of  his  "  steady  customers," 
finally  agreed  to  part  with  five  dozen  quarts,  asking  that  he 
be  repaid,  not  in  coin,  but  in  whiskey  as  this  was  far  less 
plentiful  than  money  just  then.  Within  five  minutes  the 
whiskey  was  loaded  into  the  Colonel's  car  and  on  its  way 
to  medical  headquarters.  That  night  all  sixty  bottles  were 
dispensed  to  the  sick  men  and  the  surgeons  agreed  that 
thereby  many  lives  had  undoubtedly  been  saved.  The  fol- 
lowing morning  Colonel  Endicott  and  the  Red  Cross  staff 
purchased  all  the  available  whiskey  in  Southampton  and 
supplied  the  army's  every  need. 

The   second    incident   came   when   the    army   medical 

»/ 

authorities  called  upon  the  Red  Cross  officer  in  charge  at 
the  Southampton  office  for  assistance  in  putting  up  parti- 
tions between  the  beds  of  the  influenza  patients  as  a  means 
of  checking  the  spread  of  pneumonia.  This  request  came 
at  the  inopportune  hour  of  midnight,  but  a  fleet  of  auto- 
mobiles was  at  once  sent  out  to  the  homes  of  a  number 
of  Southampton  merchants,  they  were  routed  out  of  bed 
and  persuaded  to  open  their  stores  and  supply  the  neces- 
sary paraphernalia,  consisting  principally  of  sheeting, 
wire,  and  screw-eyes.  By  2  o'clock  in  the  morning  the 
Red  Cross  had  delivered  at  the  camp  hospital  all  the  re- 
quired equipment  and  before  long  every  bed  in  the  in- 


THE  WATER-GATE  TO  FRANCE— SOUTHAMPTON    225 

fluenza  wards  was  surrounded  by  a  partition  of  sheeting 
which  could  be  sprayed  with  antiseptic  solution  and  serve 
as  a  curb  upon  the  disease. 

Throughout  the  long  battle  with  influenza  in  this  dis- 
trict, the  Red  Cross  furnished  special  foods,  such  as  milk 
and  eggs  and  fruit  which,  in  the  opinion  of  the  medical 
men,  were  of  greatest  aid  in  assisting  and  strengthening 
convalescence. 

In  the  early  part  of  August,  1918,  the  American  soldiers 
on  the  British  front  were  just  beginning  to  go  into  action 
and,  in  consequence,  numbers  of  wounded  were  coming 
back  to  Southampton  on  the  hospital  ships  which  brought 
the  British  cases  from  Le  Havre.  That  the  Americans 
might  be  met  and  well  cared  for  while  their  cases  were 
being  classified  and  assigned  to  hospital  in  accordance 
with  types  of  illness  or  injury,  the  Red  Cross  formed  a 
separate  staff  to  undertake  the  task.  This  was  begun  on 
September  3rd.  The  point  to  which  these  transports 
brought  their  wounded  was  designated  as  "  Dock  22," 
where  there  was  a  great  shed,  long  enough  to  hold  an  en- 
tire hospital  train  of  ten  cars,  into  which  the  classified 
wounded  were  borne.  It  was  of  vital  importance  that  the 
Red  Cross  should  have  some  one  actually  on  the  pier  to 
see  to  the  welfare  of  the  Americans,  so  an  appeal  was 
again  made  to  the  officer  in  command  of  the  port.  This 
time  he  consented  that  one  American  Red  Cross  woman, 
Mrs.  Margaret  Foster,  of  the  Military  Relief  Department, 
should  go  to  the  docks,  but  he  was  still  obdurate  about  the 
serving  of  coffee  as  it  required  too  much  apparatus.  So, 
for  a  time,  the  Americans,  whether  wounded  or  embarking 
for  France,  received  "  dry  rations  7  -  biscuits,  chocolate, 
and  cigarettes  —  at  the  piers,  but  early  in  December  the 
old  General  was  completely  won  over  and  permitted  coffee 
to  be  served,  remarking  he  very  much  regretted  not  hav- 
ing given  his  consent  at  the  outset,  but  that  he  had  not 
believed  any  one  could  do  what  the  Red  Cross  promised  — 
and  fulfilled  — "  serve  coffee  without  confusion  or  slopping 


226  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

it  about."  In  November  Mrs.  Foster  was  joined  by  Mrs. 
Gerald  O'Brien,  of  the  same  department  —  the  General 
welcomed  the  Ked  Cross  with  open  arms  now  —  and  they 
remained  at  the  task  until  the  middle  of  February,  1919, 
when  there  was  no  longer  need  of  their  so  helpful  service 
there. 

The  number  of  American  wounded  received  at  the 
Southampton  docks  on  a  single  day  frequently  rose  above 
700  during  the  height  of  the  fighting  on  the  Western 
Front,  for  at  that  time  from  three  to  five  hospital  ships 
arrived  every  forenoon.  The  cot  cases  were  carried  from 
the  transports  and  unless  they  were  critical  cases,  desig- 
nated by  an  ominous  red  label,  were  placed  indiscrimi- 
nately with  the  English,  Canadians,  and  Australians  on  a 
large  platform  in  the  train  shed.  Red  label  cases  were 
borne  immediately  to  ambulances  waiting  at  the  docks  and 
hurried  to  hospitals  in  the  neighborhood.  Sometimes  the 
bearers  brought  ashore  a  still  figure  covered  by  a  flag,  which 
had  not  survived  the  crossing  and  never  knew  that  his 
longing  for  "  Blighty '  had  been  fulfilled.  It  was  the 
task  of  the  two  Red  Cross  women  to  seek  out  the  Ameri- 
cans among  all  those  cot  cases  and  in  the  parties  of  walk- 
ing cases  gathered,  waiting,  at  one  end  of  the  dock.  While 
many  of  these  were  promptly  sent  away  to  hospitals,  others 
often  had  to  wait  for  hours  until  the  trains  assigned  to 
their  particular  destinations  came  in,  for  although  train 
succeeded  train  as  rapidly  as  possible,  each  was  assigned 
to  serve  a  special  hospital  district  and  each  collected  cases 
according  to  their  character.  However,  every  one  of  the 
Americans  was  always  sought  out  and  found  and  to  each 
was  given  an  American  flag,  a  bar  of  chocolate,  a  hand- 
kerchief, and  a  package  of  cigarettes  and  later,  when  the 
General  relented,  coffee  and  whatever  food  they  might  be 
permitted  to  have. 

Everything  possible  was  done  to  make  the  men  com- 
fortable during  the  time  they  waited  for  the  departure  of 
their  trains.  On  many  occasions  it  was  necessary  to  effect 


THE  WATER-GATE  TO  FRANCE— SOUTHAMPTON    227 

a  slight  adjustment  of  splint  or  bandage  and  sometimes  the 
men  asked  for  some  special  medical  attention  and  then 
the  Red  Cross  workers  would  notify  the  British  or  Ameri- 
can medical  officers  and  see  that  prompt  attention  was  ac- 
corded. Immediately  upon  their  arrival  all  the  wounded 
were  served  by  the  British  orderlies  with  hot  beef  tea  and 
biscuits,  and  while  this  was  a  blessing  to  them,  there  is  no 
gainsaying  the  keen  pleasure  of  the  men  at  meeting  an 
American  woman  -  -  something  which,  perhaps,  had  long 
been  denied  them  —  and  their  appreciation  of  the  Ameri- 
can flags  that  were  given  to  them.  If  they  were  well 
enough  to  raise  their  hands  they  invariably  took  the  flag 
before  the  chocolate  and  many  touched  it  to  their  lips.  It 
was  tucked  in  the  caps  of  the  very  sick  men  and  always  pro- 
voked a  smile  upon  the  dreariest  face.  Some  of  the  young- 
sters stuck  little  flagstaifs  into  their  splints  and  bandages 
and  waved  them  despite  their  injuries.  The  packages  of 
chocolate,  by  reason  of  an  enclosed  card  stating  that  the 
nourishment  in  them  equaled  such  and  such  an  amount  of 
ordinary  foods,  came  to  be  known  as  "  lamb  chops,"  and 
were  infrequently  referred  to  officially  as  such  by  the  pier 
authorities.  When  there  were  long  periods  of  waiting  for 
particular  hospital  trains,  the  Red  Cross  women  were  able 
to  perform  many  acts  of  kindness  for  the  men,  not  the  least 
of  which  was  that  of  writing  post  cards,  and  it  was  invari- 
ably true  that  no  matter  how  badly  wounded  a  soldier 
might  be,  even  if  seen  to  be  past  hope  of  recovery,  he  in- 
sisted upon  having  injuries,  troubles,  and  homesickness 
minimized  in  these  scraps  of  message  to  his  homefolk. 
"  Please  write  for  me,  Sister,  but  go  light  on  the  wound," 
was  the  way  he  would  put  it.  "  Say :  '  This  is  Jimmie 
writing.  I'm  sending  you  love  and  kisses.  I'm  all  right. 
I've  landed  in  England  and  the  Red  Cross  is  going  to  see 
that  I'm  all  right  in  the  hospital.  I'll  let  you  know  where 
I'm  going  when  I  get  there.  Don't  worry.  It  isn't  any- 
thing bad  that  I've  got,  just  a  bum  arm.' 

Naturally,  the  number  of  British  and  Colonial  troops  ar- 


228  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

riving  at  the  decks  was  much  larger  than  that  of  the  Ameri- 
cans. And  it  was  a  great  pleasure  to  the  American  workers 
to  be  able  to 'minister  to  the  needs  of  these  allied  soldiers. 
One  British  Tommy  who  received  a  package  of  American 
cigarettes  and  a  cake  of  Red  Cross  chocolate  as  he  lay  on  his 
stretcher  wiped  a  tear  from  his  eye  when  he  said,  "  Thank 
you,  Sister,  that's  the  first  present  that  I've  had  in  four 
years."  This  man  had  been  fighting  since  the  beginning  of 
the  war ;  this  was  his  first  home-coming. 

Frequently  the  workers  were  called  upon  to  go  aboard  de- 
parting hospital  ships,  both  those  which  carried  Americans 
and  those  which  were  loaded  with  Canadians  and  Aus- 
tralians and  here  they  found  opportunities  to  do  much  help- 
ful work  in  distributing  supplies  and  arranging  for  the  com- 
fort of  the  men. 

When  the  repatriated  prisoners  of  war  began  returning 
through  Southampton  there  were,  at  the  beginning,  only  a 
few  Americans,  comparatively,  the  mass  being  British,  but 
the  Red  Cross  distributed  its  stores  to  all  alike. 

On  Thanksgiving  Day  all  the  Americans  received  a  copy 
of  President  Wilson's  Proclamation,  which  had  been  re- 
printed by  the  Red  Cross  Department  of  Information  in 
London  for  circulation  throughout  Red  Cross  posts  in 
Britain  and  on  Christmas  Day  the  Red  Cross  had  a 
sufficient  number  of  stockings  —  more  than  1,000  of  them 
—  for  everybody  on  the  docks,  the  arriving  wounded, 
American,  British,  and  Colonial,  and  also  for  the  faithful 
dock  laborers,  orderlies  and  assistants  who  had  been  dealing 
with  the  wounded  for  so  many  months.  And  every  man 
who  received  a  Red  Cross  stocking,  filled  with  nuts,  choco- 
lates, cigarettes,  a  pipe  and  a  handsome  metal  cigarette 
case,  was  as  happy  as  if  he  had  had  an  extra  month's  pay. 
Never  was  gift  more  appreciated  and  it  did  much  to  lift 
Christmas  Day  on  the  docks  out  of  the  unhappy  daily  rou- 
tine and  make  it  at  least  something  of  a  holiday  for 
wounded  and  workers  alike. 

As   a   historic  foot-note,  one     of   England's  very   dis- 


THE  WATER-GATE  TO  FRANCE— SOUTHAMPTON    229 

tinguished  and  oldest  buildings  was  used  as  a  garage  by  the 
lied  Cross  at  Southampton.  It  was  close  to  the  water  front 
and  built  in  the  days  when  King  Canute  defied  the  rising 
tide  in  his  capital  at  Southampton.  The  structure  was 
originally  part  of  the  city  wall  and  a  post  for  expert 
archers.  In  the  thirteenth  century  the  city  became  a  great 
wool  port  and  this  part  of  the  wall  was  set  aside  as  the  wool 
market.  During  the  Napoleonic  Wars  the  "  Wool  House  ' 
was  converted  into  a  prison  for  French  soldiers  who  fell 
into  Wellington's  hands  and  on  the  great  roof  trasses  many 
of  these  unfortunates  carved  their  names  or  initials  which 
are  today  as  sharply  clear  as  ever.  Then,  in  the  twentieth 
century  came  the  American  Red  Cross,  a  wide  gateway  for 
cars  and  vans  took  the  place  of  the  narrow  prison  doorway 
with  its  heavy,  iron-spiked  oaken  barrier,  and  a  high  sign- 
board proclaiming  the  "  American  Red  Cross  "  was  set  up, 
hiding  the  narrow  loopholes  through  which  the  archers 
used  to  let  their  arrows  fly.  And  so  times  change. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


J  ' 


THE  FLYING  SQUADRON       AND  SOME  OF  ITS  FLIGHTS 


ON  a  shiny  marble  pillar  in  the  entrance  hall  of  No.  52 
Grosvenor  Gardens,  which,  before  it  became  an  Amer- 
ican Red  Cross  administration  building,  was  the  town  house 
of  Sir  George  Faudel-Phillips,  a  Lord  Mayor  and  High 
Sheriff  of  London,  an  assertive  square  of  pasted  paper  ap- 
peared one  day.  Surrounded  by  the  low  tones  of  walls  and 
hangings  and  of  carved  sixteenth  century  cabinets,  it 
gleamed  like  a  light.  So  deliberately  did  it  catch  the  eye 
that  no  one  who  came  in  could  resist  reading  what,  in  chal- 
lenging hand,  was  written  upon  it  : 

TRY  AND  CATCH  US  ! 

Five  hundred  dollars  will  be  paid  to  the  American  Red  Cross 
if,  at  any  time,  it  can  be  proved  that  the  "  Flying  Squadron  "  is 
not  in  action  or  ready  for  duty  night  or  day  (24  hours). 

CAPTAIN  WELLS, 
Emergency  Department. 

Signed  by  the  Commander  of  the  "  Flying  Squadron." 

1st  LIEUTENANT  JEFFERS. 

Quite  aside  from  the  fact  that  the  "  Flying  Squadron  ' 
was  never  "  caught,"  this  defiant  square  of  paper  expressed, 
with  rare  terseness,  a  pride  and  loyalty  not  exceeded  in  any 
department  of  the  Red  Cross  organization  in  Great  Britain. 
It  had  been  put  up  half  in  jest  as  answer  to  a  laughing 
prophecy  made  by  one  of  the  men  in  another  bureau  :  "  You 
people  are  certainly  getting  away  with  it,  but  you'll  crack 
some  day,  see  if  you  don't."  Yet,  in  reality,  it  was  the  un- 
furling of  the  flag  under  which  the  Squadron  had  always 
gone  into  action  and  under  which  it  served  with  unfailing 

zeal  and  resourcefulness  to  the  very  end. 

230 


"  THE  FLYING  SQUADRON  »  231 

If  it  visibly  proclaimed  the  spirit  of  a  little  corps  of  men 
reasonably  and  jealously  proud  of  their  success,  so,  with 
equal  forcefulness,  did  a  cheerless,  quite  uninviting  room 
on  one  of  the  upper  floors  of  the  building  proclaim  it. 
This,  furnished  with  four  plain  iron  beds,  four  stiff  chairs, 
a  table  and  a  telephone  —  lacking  even  the  picture  cards 
and  colored  gimcracks  which  a  fellow  far  from  home 
usually  sticks  upon  the  wall  —  was  the  night  watch-tower 
of  the  "  Flying  Squadron." 

During  the  day,  when  all  the  machinery  of  the  Red  Cross 
was  in  full  motion,  every  man  at  his  station,  the  warehouses 
open,  even  the  engines  of  the  motor  lorries  warmed  up,  the 
work  of  the  Squadron,  while  no  less  distinguished,  was 
measurably  simplified.  In  this  there  is  no  implication  that 
the  day  tasks  which  fell  to  it  were  either  easy  or  pleasant. 
Many  of  them  were  decidedly  neither  of  the  two  and  de- 
manded tireless  energy.  In  fact,  they  predominated  and 
were  the  ones  in  which  the  corps  really  wrote  its  enviable 
record. 

It  was  at  night,  naturally,  that  the  Squadron  had  to  ex- 
ercise its  greatest  ingenuity  and  drum  up  at  all  sorts  of 
hours  whatever  agencies  it  required  to  meet  sudden  and  un- 
expected demands.  Its  boasted  preparedness  throughout 
the  twenty-four  hours  was  based  on  the  fact  that  from  night- 
fall till  morning  two  members  of  the  corps  were  always  on 
active  duty,  and  the  others,  with  their  equipment  of  motor 
trucks  and  ambulances,  their  coffee  urns  and  medical  sup- 
plies, always  within  ready  reach.  The  duty  detail  re- 
mained up  and  about  at  headquarters  until  midnight  and 
after  that  went  to  sleep  in  the  watch-tower,  their  uniforms 
arranged  fireman-fashion  for  instant  donning,  a  telephone 
between  their  beds.  By  arrangement  with  the  London 
Telephone  Company,  all  Red  Cross  calls  after  midnight 
were  rung  on  that  line. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  there  existed  in  any  other  Com- 
mission in  Europe  an  organization  comparable  with  the 
"  Flying  Squadron."  In  the  first  place  every  man  in  it  had 


232  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

to  be  a  skilled  motor  driver,  an  EDIBLE  cook  ("  if  you 
know  what  I  mean  "),  an  expert  on  the  typewriter  (one  of 
the  corps,  sotto  voce:  "Even  if  he  can't  spell!"),  the 
possessor  of  a  reasonable  amount  of  ready  money,  and  a 
HUMAN  BEING.  (The  same  voice  asked  if  these  two 
words  might  not  be  capitalized.)  Such  a  thing  as  a 
"  grouch  ?  was  unknown  in  the  corps.  In  addition  the 
members  were  expected  to  be  as  quick  of  thought  as  of  foot 
and  hand,  for  the  men  of  the  "  Flying  Squadron  "  were  em- 
powered to  act  "  on  their  own,"  to  do  whatever  they  deemed 
the  occasion  of  their  service  required.  There  was  no  tele- 
phoning "higher  up,"  no  let's-ask-the-Major;  the  emer- 
gency was  for  solution  by  whatever  man  or  men  had  tackled 
it.  "  And  outside  of  the  fact  that  we  were  on  duty  seven 
days  a  week,"  one  of  them  explained,  "  those  were  about 
all  the  regulations." 

Under  these  requirements  were  brought  together  more 
than  a  dozen  capable  young  men,  strong,  self-reliant,  inde- 
fatigable. And  it  was  their  esprit  de  corps,  no  less  than 
their  initiative,  which  made  them  so  effective,  which  won 
no  end  of  friends  for  the  American  Red  Cross. 

Many  important  tasks  fell  upon  their  ready  shoulders 
in  the  diverse  work  in  Great  Britain.  They  aided  the 
rescued  men  of  the  Tuscania;  they  hurried  to  Islay  to  help 
bury  the  dead  and  succor  the  survivors  of  the  Otranto;  they 
gathered  the  homeless  American  soldiers  and  sailors  in  the 
night  streets  of  London  and  gave  them  lodgings ;  they  shep- 
herded the  bluejackets  of  Admiral  Sims'  fleet  into  the  Royal 
Law  Courts  for  a  bunking  place;  they  transported  emer- 
gency equipment  of  all  kinds  at  unheard-of  hours;  they 
went  on  countless  flying-canteen  excursions,  taking  hun- 
dreds of  gallons  of  hot  coffee  miles  from  London  to  the  men 
of  arriving  troopships ;  they  met  American  officers  entering 
the  city  and  found  quarters  for  them  long  after  the  me- 
tropolis had  shut  its  doors  and  turned  in ;  they  met  confused 
prisoners  of  war,  fed,  entertained,  and  housed  them  and 
whisked  them  off  to  hospitals  when  this  was  necessary ;  they 


"  THE  FLYING  SQUADRON  "  233 

provided  from  somewhere,  at  dead  of  night,  medical  and 
surgical  supplies  when  lives  hung  upon  their  procurement ; 
they  gave  a  sturdy  helping  hand  to  every  other  bureau  of 
the  Red  Cross  organization,  for  whenever  an  undertaking 
seemed  scarcely  possible  of  accomplishment,  some  one  was 
sure  to  say,  "  The  i  Flying  Squadron  '  will  put  that  across 
for  you."  And  so  it  would,  with  never  a  failure.  When 
a  chauffeurs'  strike  threatened  to  tie  up  temporarily  the  ac- 
tivities of  the  Commission,  eight  men  of  the  Squadron  re- 
ported one  morning  to  the  director  of  transportation  and 
said,  "  Don't  give  in ;  we'll  run  all  the  cars  you'll  need  ' 
and  broke  the  strike ! 

The  cessation  of  hostilities  in  November  had  the  effect 
of  filling  London  with  jubilation  and  human  beings. 
While  the  former  was  universal,  the  latter  were  made  up  in 
large  part  of  American  sailors  on  leave,  first  from  torpedo 
boats  and  mine  sweepers  and  afterward  from  the  big  ships 
of  the  Scapa  Flow  fleet  London,  already  overcrowded  — 
it  was  estimated  that  the  transient  population  exceeded  a 
million  —  was  now  taxed  to  the  limit  of  hospitality.  The 
"  Standing  Room  Only '  sign  could  have  been  hung  on 
every  hotel  in  the  city.  The  result  was  that  hundreds  of 
enlisted  men  were  walking  the  streets,  bedless.  This  was 
particularly  hard  on  the  Americans,  many  of  whom  had 
never  before  been  in  London  and  were  like  lost  sheep. 

As  precedents  and  conventions  meant  absolutely  nothing 
to  the  "  Flying  Squadron,"  which  recognized  only  the.  rules 
and  regulations  governing  every  "  human  "  creature,  it  de- 
cided that  the  well-heated  Red  Cross  Headquarters  build- 
ings themselves  would  not  make  such  bad  bunking  places. 
So,  one  fine  night,  taking  things  in  its  own  hands,  it  simply 
commandeered  them,  collected  a  large  party  of  bluejackets 
who  did  not  know  where  they  wrere  going  but  were  on  their 
way,  and  shepherded  them  into  the  big  mansions  in  Gros- 
venor  Gardens.  First  of  all  the  men  were  taken  to  No. 
52,  where  the  Squadron  had  an  emergency  canteen  which 
provided  them  with  hot  coffee,  sandwiches,  chocolate, 


234  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

oranges  and  cigarettes.  Then  the  department  rooms  in 
building  after  building  were  given  over  to  the  sailors,  with 
two  blankets  for  each  of  the  "  guests '  and  the  option  of 
making  his  bed  in  a  chair  or  on  the  floor.  When  all  other 
rooms  were  filled,  the  Squadron  genius  in  charge  of  the 
party,  ushered  half  a  dozen  of  his  charges  into  the  large 
private  office  of  the  Commissioner,  moved  the  desks  and 
chairs  against  the  walls,  threw  down  a  pile  of  blankets,  and 
said  calmly,  "  Now,  go  ahead,  you  fellows,  and  pound  your 
ears  in  peace ;  you're  in  the  boss's  office !  ' 

Such  use  of  the  buildings  made  it  necessary  to  hurry  the 
sleepers  out  at  half-past  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  so  the 
rooms  might  be  set  to  rights  for  the  day's  affairs.  But  the 
sailor  folk  were  not  left  even  then  to  the  cheerless  obliga- 
tion of  routing  themselves  out  and  hustling  about  for  break- 
fast. The  "  Flying  Squadron  "  was  astir  long  before  that 
hour.  It  awakened  the  men  and  by  the  time  the  first  one 
was  in  his  clothes  the  emergency  canteen  at  "No.  52  was 
again  ready  with  gallons  of  hot  coffee  and  enough  bread 
and  jam  for  a  ship's  crew. 

At  the  risk  of  spoiling  the  "  efficiency  '  part  of  this  in- 
cident, the  writer  must  sav  that  in  the  case  of  one  bureau. 

'  V  ' 

its  chief  arrived  at  his  office  at  8  o'clock  one  morning  to 
find  a  sailor  lying  on  his  desk  stretching  luxuriously  be- 
fore arising  and  another  tying  his  neckerchief  at  the  office 
mirror.  He  was  greeted  with  a  punctilious  "  Good  morn- 
ing, Sir,  and  thanks  for  the  quarters."  It  was  the  fifth 
night  his  room  had  been  so  utilized  and  he  had  never  known 
it.  So,  perhaps,  there  was  some  "  efficiency  '  in  it  after 
all. 

As  the  number  of  enlisted  men  on  leave  increased  day  by 
day,  so  did  the  problems  of  the  "  Flying  Squadron '  and 
the  entire  Emergency  Bureau.  However,  by  the  kind  aid 
of  Colonel  Matthews,  who  was  in  charge  of  the  Rest  Rooms 
of  the  British  Army,  permission  was  obtained  to  lodge  some 
of  the  Americans  in  a  building  of  the  Royal  Mews,  in  the 
gardens  of  Buckingham  Palace,  and  a  Red  Cross  canteen 


"  THE  FLYING  SQUADRON  "  235 

was  set  up  in  the  Buckingham  Palace  Hotel  across  the  way. 
This,  with  the  use  of  Red  Cross  Headquarters  -  -  for  no  one 
ever  interfered  with  the  "  Flying  Squadron  '  -  was  a  tem- 
porary solution  of  the  difficulties.  But  to  make  it  the  more 
successful,  the  Squadron  established  its  famous  bus  service. 
It  chartered  two  omnibuses  from  the  London  company, 
hung  upon  each  a  large  Red  Cross  flag  and  a  sign  reading 
"U.  S.  Navy  Sleeping  Quarters,"  and  sent  them  "  to  sea ' 
under  discretionary  orders.  The  sole  instructions  given  to 
the  two  Squadron  men  who  manned  each  of  these 
"  cruisers"  was  to  search  the  streets  of  London  for  "  cast- 
aways," pick  them  up  and  take  them  either  to  the  haven  of 
the  Mews  or  to  Red  Cross  Headquarters.  They  were  to 
promise  supper,  a  bed  and  breakfast  to  every  man  they 
found. 

The  "  cruises '  began  at  9  o'clock  and  continued  until 
4  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  Strand,  that  ceaselessly  busy 
street-of-all-the-world,  being  the  highway  most  thoroughly 
searched,  although  the  vehicles  put  in  at  every  port  of  Lon- 
don to  which  sailors  might  be  making  in  hope  of  an  anchor- 
age. 

Any  one  familiar  with  the  persuasive  vocal  methods  of 
'bus  drivers  at  a  rural  railway  station  when  "  the  train  from 

e/ 

the  city  '    comes  in,  will  have  an  excellent  idea  of  the 

t/ 

manner  in  which  the  homeless  sailormen  were  invited  to 
partake  of  Red  Cross  hospitality.  One  Squadron  man  was 
stationed  on  the  top,  or  "  bridge  '  of  the  "  cruiser,"  the 
other  on  the  conductor's  "  quarter-deck."  Whenever  a 
single  sailor  or  a  knot  of  them  was  encountered,  the  'bus 
crew  would  begin  its  hailing:  u  Here  you  are  mates;  we've 
got  a  place  for  you  to  sleep  to-night !  "  or,  "  Have  some  eats 
and  a  flop-down  on  the  Red  Cross,  Jack  ?  "  or,  "  Here's  the 
American  Red  Cross  sleep-finding  'bus,  all  aboard  for  sup- 
per, bed  and  breakfast ! '  If  the  crowd  was  large  the  man 
on  the  top'  of  the  'bus  would  get  down  and  circulate  among 
the  men,  telling  them  to  come  to  the  Red  Cross  headquarters 
then  or  later,  just  as  they  wished  —  but  here  was  the  'bus 


236  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

all  ready,  why  not  jump  in  and  ride  there?  Don't  go  to 
a  hotel  and  spend  your  money,  come  to  the  Red  Cross,  it 
doesn't  cost  you  a  cent  —  Hey,  bed,  bed,  who  wants  a 
bed  ?  " 

The  cries  and  the  general  merriment  of  the  party  always 
drew  a  crowd  from  the  strollers  in  the  street.  When  the 
sailors  clambered  aboard  the  'buses  they  added  to  it  all  by 
hailing  their  fellows  as  they  passed  and  inviting  them  to 
"  join  up."  Normally,  the  London  'bus  accommodates 
thirty-four  persons,  inside  and  out,  but  the  sailors  swarmed 
up  the  Red  Cross  "  cruisers  "  until  there  were  at  least  fifty 
aboard  each  one  of  them.  When  a  vehicle  could  hold  no 
more,  even  by  dint  of  pushing  and  squeezing,  it  was  headed 
for  Grosvenor  Gardens.  There  it  discharged  its  load  and 
went  "  to  sea  "  again  for  another  cargo.  JSTot  infrequently 
soldiers  were  picked  up  in  the  same  way  and  now  and  then 
an  Australian  or  a  Canadian  who  happened  to  be  "  spend- 
ing the  evening '  with  his  American  friends,  because  in 
the  Red  Cross  headquarters  buildings  alone,  sleeping  space 
was  available  for  nearly  600  men.  For  many  nights  five 
hundred  men  at  a  time  berthed  there. 

Throughout  the  time  of  London's  greatest  congestion  the 
'bus  service  was  continued.  When,  early  in  December,  it 
became  necessary  to  find  extensive  quarters  for  the  men  and 
the  Royal  Law  Courts  were  thrown  open  to  them,  as  related 
in  another  chapter,  it  was  the  "  Flying  Squadron '  which 
hunted  the  streets  for  the  wandering  sailonnen  and  took 
them  to  the  Courts  by  the  'bus-load.  To  the  sailors  crowd- 
ing into  London,  the  American  Red  Cross  meant  everything 
in  the  matter  of  helpfulness  and  interest  in  their  comfort. 
They  came  to  rely  upon  it  with  implicit  and  by  no  means 
misplaced  faith.  One  little  episode  amply  illustrates  this. 

As  the  crowd  in  the  Strand  was  hurrying  homeward  from 
work  one  December  night,  two  huge  motor  trucks  filled  with 
American  sailors  drew  up  to  the  curb.  A  "  Bobbie,"  pass- 
ing on  his  beat,  stopped  a  moment  with  a  kindly  grin  to 
give  them  greeting. 


"  THE  FLYING  SQUADRON  "  237 

"  Going  home  ? ' '  he  asked. 

"  Not  on  your  life,  Bo/'  came  in  quick  reply  from  one 
of  the  bluejackets.  "  We've  just  got  here  and  we're  giving 
your  burg  the  once-over,  see  ? ' 

"  Well,  you  take  my  advice,"  the  policeman  replied 
gravely,  "  and  find  some  place  to  sleep  first  off.  A  door- 
step is  a  cold  place  on  a  December  night,  and  that's  all  that's 
left  in  London  nowadays." 

"  Oh,  we're  all  right,"  the  sailor  sang  out.  "  Our  Eed 
Cross  is  taking  care  of  us !  ' 

Just  at  that  moment  a  "  Flying  Squadron '  man  ap- 
peared at  the  front  of  the  truck  and  called  to  the  driver, 
"  The  end  building,  'round  the  corner  from  Victoria 
Street, —  number  Fifty-two  Grosvenor  Gardens ! ' 

And  as  the  convoy  moved  on  again,  the  bluejacket  leaned 
over  the  edge  of  the  truck,  tapped  the  "  Bobbie '  on  the 
helmet  and  said : 

"  Say,  Cop,  did  you  hear  that  ?  Didn't  I  tell  you  we 
were  all  right  ? ' 

As  the  soldiers  and  sailors-  continued  to  arrive  in  London, 
either  on  leave  or  moving  from  one  post  to  another,  the  Red 
Cross  decided  to  establish  permanent  rest  houses  or  canteens 
extraordinary  to  provide  them  with  food  and  shelter. 
While  the  idea  was  surely  begotten  of  an  intent  to  provide 
comforts  for  these  brief  sojourners  in  a  teeming  city,  it  may 
have  been  linked  in  some  way  with  a  determination  to  keep 
the  "  Flying  Squadron  "  out  of  trouble  !  Because  the  Com- 
mission had  every  reason  to  believe  that,  if  all  else  failed, 
some  one  in  the  corps  would  begin  making  eyes  at  Bucking- 
ham Palace  !  Therefore,  as  quickly  as  possible,  fearful,  no 
doubt,  of  delay,  the  Red  Cross  inaugurated  three  such  hos- 
pitable stations  in  London.  And  while  they  simplified  the 
problems  of  the  Squadron*,  at  the  same  time  they  curtailed 
its  ingenuity. 

One  of  these  stations  was  at  No.  48  Eaton  Place,  close  to 
the  American  Army  Headquarters;  the  second  was  at  28 
Golden  Square,  beside  the  headquarters-  of  the  Provost  Mar- 


238  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

shal ;  the  third,  for  naval  men,  was  at  the  busiest  spot  in  the 
Strand,  the  first  London  street  for  which  a  sailor  looks. 
All  three  of  these  were  in  full  operation  late  in  1919  and 
it  was  planned  to  maintain  them  as  long  as  the  need  con- 
tinued. 

The  rest  house  in  Eaton  Place  was  a  large,  well-ap- 
pointed town  house  only  a  few  hundred  yards  from  Eed 
Cross  Headquarters  as  well.  Canteen  workers  were  on 
duty  morning,  afternoon  and  evening  to  act  as  hostesses,  to 
serve  coffee  and  biscuits,  sandwiches  and  chocolate,  to  talk, 
play  checkers,  and  to  divert  the  men  generally.  The  rooms 
on  the  main  floor  were  made  attractive  with  comfortable 
sofas,  chairs,  rugs  and  pictures.  There  was  a  large  table 
for  magazines,  newspapers,  and  a  talking  machine,  and 
smaller  tables  for  letter  writing.  On  the  second  floor  was 
the  ball-room,  capable  of  being  converted  into  a  huge  dormi- 
tory in  case  of  emergency.  The  stories  above  were  divided 
into  sleeping  rooms,  while  the  basement  provided  kitchens 
and  storage.  Occasionally  the  men  gave  musical  entertain- 
ments in  the  house  and  every  week  there  was  a  dance,  the 
young  women  of  the  Red  Cross  attending  in  sufficiently 
large  numbers  to  furnish  the  men  with  at  least  a  third  of  a 
partner  apiece. 

A  short  time  after  this  place  was  opened,  the  Red  Cross 
was  notified  by  the  American  military  authorities  that  150 
men  were  expected  in  London  daily  on  leave  from  France. 
The  Red  Cross  desired  to  provide  canteen  service  for  these 
men  on  their  arrival  at  some  point  which  would  facilitate 
their  registration  with  the  Provost-Marshal,  this  being  the 
soldier's  first  duty.  Also  it  had  been  looking  for  a  suitable 
place  for  use  as  a  club  room  for  the  American  Military 
Police,  whose  headquarters  were  at  the  Provost-Marshal's 
oifice.  It  seemed  possible  to  combine  these  two  services, 
and  after  a  hurried  inspection  of  available  premises,  the 
Red  Cross  representatives  selected  t(  the  shabbiest  house  in 
London,"  at  No.  28  Golden  Square,  adjoining  the  Provost- 
Marshal's  Office  itself.  It  had  not  been  occupied  for  eight 


"THE  FLYING  SQUADRON"  239 

years  and  there  were  only  two  days  left  in  which  to  get  it 
into  condition  to  receive  the  first  party  of  150  men. 

Now,  if  there  was  one  thing  in  the  world  that  appealed 
to  the  "  Flying  Squadron  '  -  of  course  it  was  called  in,  it 
was  always  called  in !  —  here  it  was ;  a  whole  house  to  be 
"  done-over '  in  forty-eight  hours !  "  Can  we  do  it  ? 
Why,  that's  where  we  LIVE !  '  was  the  unofficial  answer 
to  the  official  summons  to  action. 

So  the  Squadron  turned  out  with  a  large  and  active  staff 
of  cleaners  and  painters,  plumbers  and  carpenters,  elec- 
tricians and  gas  men,  house  furnishers  and  house  wreckers, 
and  went  at  that  building.  They  literally  tore  it  inside 
out.  While  one  detail  of  the  Squadron  was  busy  pulling 
up,  knocking  down  and  dragging  out  its  internal  arrange- 
ments, another  equally  energetic  detail  was  hauling  in,  put- 
ting down  and  setting  up  the  new  contraptions  of  transfor- 
mation. In  those  two  days  the  house  was  sufficiently  oc- 
cupied to  make  up  for  all  of  the  eight  years  of  idle  peace- 
fulness.  The  noise  created  the  impression  that  a  munition 
factory  had  moved  into  the  neighborhood. 

Food  supplies,  chairs,  sofas,  tables,  rugs,  china,  table- 
ware were  brought  by  the  van-load  from  the  Red  Cross 
warehouses,  shouldering  their  way  to  the  doorstep  through 
the  trucks  lugging  off  the  debris  of  demolition.  It  was  a 
race  against  time  with  the  "  Flying  Squadron  ' '  perspiring 
but  happy.  And  it  won  out,  with  minutes  to  spare,  for 
within  the  time  limit  everything  was  ready,  even  to  the 
bright  chintz  curtains  in  the  windows  and  the  cheerful 
array  of  American  and  Red  Cross  flags  on  the  walls. 

So  systematically  had  the  work  been  done,  so  carefully 
had  the  functions  of  the  establishment  been  planned  that  it 
ran  like  clockwork  from  the  first  day,  and  entertained 
weekly  an  average  of  more  than  seven  hundred  men. 

The  third  establishment  was  provided  when  the  Red 
Cross  leased  the  Strand  Imperial  Hotel,  opposite  the  fam- 
ous Gaiety  Theater  and  opened  it  in  December  as  a  club 
house  for  American  sailors.  Attractive  sleeping  quarters 


240  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

'and  excellent  food  were  provided  for  the  men  at  such  prices 
as  enabled  the  institution  to  pay  its  own  way  from  the  out- 
set, purchasing  its  own  supplies  and  receiving  nothing  from 
the  Red  Cross  save  the  payment  of  the  rent.  Its  first 
patrons  were  the  men  of  "  Admiral  Sims'  Naval  Jazz 
Band,"  famous  throughout  the  service,  and  they  proved 
such  an  attraction  that  the  house  rules  were  amended  in 
order  that  they  might  become  permanent  residents. 

"  Mother '  Robertson,  the  chatelaine  of  this  hospitable 
establishment,  endeared  herself  to  thousands  of  American 
sailors.  Many  of  them  sought  their  old  rooms  every  time 
they  came  to  London  on  liberty,  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that 
very  few  passed  through  the  city  homeward  bound  without 
dropping  in  for  a  word  of  good-by  —  and  a  last  piece  of  the 
chocolate  cake  or  pie  for  which  the  club  was  justly  famous. 
"  Mother  "  Robertson  conducted  the  club  with  due  regard 
for  discipline  as  well  as  comfort  for,  with  all  her  greatness 
of  heart,  she  had  "  an  eye  like  Mars  ' '  to  threaten  and  com- 
mand. 

One  of  the  outstanding  qualities  of  the  "  Flying  Squad- 
ron '  was  the  speed  with  which  it  accomplished  things. 
This  caused  surprise  even  at  Headquarters.  If,  in  the 
early  days,  some  one  "  higher  up  "  telephoned  to  the  Emer- 
gency Bureau  to  inquire  about  a  "  rush  order  '  which  had 
been  sent  through  probably  half  an  hour  before,  the  answer 
invariably  was,  "  Oh,  that  ? ;  why,  the  '  Flying  Squadron's  ' 
already  attended  to  it,"  or  "  The  '  Flying  Squadron '  has 
flown ! '  Later  no  one  ever  called  up  to  inquire. 

The  speed  and  efficiency  of  the  corps  was  often  well  tried 
out  and  as  well  demonstrated  in  providing  canteen  service 
for  the  American  troops  when  'their  transports  put  in  at 
Royal  Albert  Docks  or  Tilbury  Docks,  the  first  fifteen,  the 
other  twenty-nine  miles  below  London.  These  arrivals 
could  nearly  always  be  classed  as  "  emergencies,"  for  the 
military  authorities  guarded  until  the  very  last  minute  the 
destination  of  a  convoy,  and  such  a  "  last  minute  "  allowed 
precious  little  time  for  Red  Cross  preparation.  Further- 


"  THE  FLYING  SQUADRON  "  241 

more,  there  were  often  as  manv  as  3,000  soldiers  to  a  trans- 

• 

port  and  the  capacity  for  coffee,  buns,  sandwiches  and 
chocolate  of  the  soldier  who  has  been  at  sea  for  nearly  two 
weeks  is  worthy  of  physiological  research. 

By  reason  of  the  necessarily  preserved  secrecy  in  refer- 
ence to  the  troop  arrivals,  the  first  ship  which  the  "  Flying 
Squadron ' '  met  at  the  Royal  Albert  Docks  gave  it  a  busy 
time.  What  happened  is  in  every  way  better  told  in  the 
words  of  one  of  the  corps  who  had  a  hand  in  it : 

"  We  got  news  at  Headquarters  at  6  o'clock  one  night  — 
it  was  September  8th  —  that -a  transport  was  on  its  way  up 
to  the  docks.  That  meant  hustle  with  a  capital  H.  The 
first  thing  we  did  was  to  make  enough  coffee  to  fill  two 
twelve-gallon  urns  —  knowing  how  to  make  coffee  is  part  of 
our  job.  These  urns  keep  hot  for  about  seven  hours,  you 
know,  and  we  packed  them  into  a  big  motor  truck  with  a  lot 
of  ground  coffee  and  condensed  milk,  sugar,  biscuits,  choco- 
late and  cigarettes,  and  a  thick  bundle  of  the  Daily  Bulletin 
of  that  morning  with  most  of  the  news  from  home  in  it. 
Wherever  and  whenever  we  went  on  a  call  like  that  we  took 
the  Bulletin,  because  it  was  just  what  the  men  wanted  — 
and  it  lasted  longer  than  anything  to  eat ! 

"  It  was  nearly  8  o'clock  by  the  time  everything  was 
ready  and  then  we  climbed  into  the  truck,  put  a  foot  on  the 
accelerator,  and  didn't  take  it  off  till  we  got  to  the  docks. 
That  was  an  hour  later,  but  it  was  good  speed  for  fifteen 
miles  because  we  had  to  go  a  great  part  of  the  way  through 
London  streets.  But  we  had  Red  Crosses  on  our  head- 
lights, so  that  made  everything  all  right. 

"  We  expected  to  see  the  transport  coming  in  when  we 
got  there,  but  no  such  luck !  The  very  best  of  official  in- 
formation was  that  the  vessel  could  not  come  up  until  7 
o'clock  next  morning  on  account  of  the  tide  or  something. 
Well,  it  was  all  in  the  night's  work,  so  we  lugged  the  coffee 
urns  aboard  a  merchantman  lying  in  one  of  the  docks  and 
prevailed  upon  the  steward  to  keep  the  coffee  hot  for  us. 
As  it  happened,  we  were  not  the  only  ones  waiting  that 


242  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

night ;  there  were  trains  and  crews  all  ready  on  a  siding  to 
take  the  newcomers  off  to  camp.  There  wasn't  anything 
for  us  to  do  around  there,  so  we  took  to  the  truck  and  set 
out  on  a  hunt  for  a  hotel  in  the  neighborhood.  While  we 
were  on  the  way  several  people  in  a  crowd  in  the  dark,  see- 
ing our  Red  Crosses  on  the  lamps,  hailed  us.  We  stopped 
and  learned  that  a  man  riding  a  bicycle  had  been  run  over 
by  a  train,  so  we  picked  him  up  with  his  broken  wheel  and 
went  at  top  speed  to  the  nearest  hospital.  After  we'd 
carried  him  in  we  got  his  name  and  address  from  papers 
in  his  pocket  and  at  once  headed  the  truck  for  his  home. 
His  wife  had  been  dead  less  than  two  weeks,  but  he  had  a 
sister-in-law  taking  care  of  his  three  little  children,  so  we 
hurried  her  to  the  hospital  to  see  the  injured  man  and 
brought  her  home  again.  Incidentally,  we  gave  the  kid- 
dies some  Red  Cross  chocolate  and  a  little  collection  we 
took  up  among  ourselves. 

"  That  left  us  just  where  we  started :  looking  for  a  hotel. 
To  save  gas  we  parked  the  truck  at  a  police  station  and  be- 
gan again  on  foot.  At  2  o'clock  in  the  morning  we  found 
'  Jake's  Palace  '  I  The  i  Palace  '  part  of  it  consisted  of 
one  big  room  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  beds  in  it !  The 
fellow  who  let  us  in  boasted  about  the  number  and  I  believe 
him.  It  looked  as  if  an  army  was  asleep  in  the  place.  We 
turned  in  all  standing,  boots  and  all,  and  slept  as  if  we  were 
dead.  But  Gabriel  came  around  with  the  well-known 
Trumpet  at  half -past  five  and  we  turned  out  again,  feeling 
as  if  we'd  never  even  lain  down.  As  we  didn't  have  to  stop 
to  dress,  we  got  the  truck,  went  to  the  docks  and  had  the 
coffee  ashore,  piping  hot  and  more  brewing,  before  7  o'clock. 

"  But  there  was  no  transport,  certainly  none  of  joy  in  our 
breasts.  We  posed  around,  first  on  one  foot  and  then  on 
the  other  until  half-past  ten  o'clock,  when  up  came  the 
troopship  as  if  she  had  the  whole  day  before  her.  She  had 
about  2,200  men  aboard  and  they  were  mighty  glad  to  see 
us  when  they  tramped  down  the  gang-plank. 

"  Well,  we  kept  the  coffee  going,  making  it  as  fast  as  we 


"  THE  FLYING  SQUADRON  "  243 

could,  because  it  takes  150  gallons  to  supply  2,000  men,  and 
while  we  were  in  the  midst  of  the  work,  in  came  another 
vessel  with  1,500  soldiers,  hungry  Yankee  soldiers,  hang- 
ing over  her  rails  !  That  was  a  facer,  because  we  had  been 
told  to  count  on  2,000  men  and  could  stretch  the  service  to 
2,400,  but  an  added  1,500  was  too,  too  much ! 

"  In  order  to  do  anything  at  all  after  the  coffee  was  all 
gone  —  it  was  impossible  to  get  any  more  in  the  short  time 
between  debarkation  and  entrainment  —  we  had  to  cut 
down  the  chocolate,  biscuit  and  cigarette  rations,  but  every 
man  got  a  little  of  each  of  them.  Both  ships  were  a  long 
time  coming  iiko  the  dock  and  it  was  six  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon when  the  last  train  pulled  out.  By  the  time  we  had 
everything  washed  up  and  stowed  in  the  truck  it  was  nearly 
9  o'clock  and  then  we  started  on  the  journey  back  to  Lon- 
don." 

"  But  that  was  an  easy  job,"  piped  up  another  member 
of  the  Squadron,  "  compared  with  one  at  Tilbury  Docks 
about  two  weeks  later.  There  was  a  railway  strike  on  just 
then  and  a  transport  we  went  to  meet  had  to  stay  out  in  the 
stream  a  day  and  a  night  before  trains  could  be  provided 
to  take  the  men  to  their  camp.  But  we  got  a  small  boat 
and  carried  the  coffee  aboard  the  ship  and  served  it  on  deck. 
There  were  2,000  colored  troops  on  that  vessel  and  if  it  had 
been  a  still  day  you  could  have  heard  them  drinking  that 
hot  coffee  a  mile  away.  They  had  had  no  cigarettes  for 
three  days  until  we  passed  them  around.  The  Red  Cross 
certainly  made  a  hit  that  time.  During  the  night  that  the 
transport  lay  of?  the  docks  not  one  of  us  could  lay  off  for  a 
sleep;  we  had  to  stay  up  to  make  a  hundred  and  fifty 
gallons  more  of  coffee  for  the  morning.  But  thkt  much  of 
our  work  was  all  for  nothing,  so  far  as  the  troops  were  con- 
cerned, because  when  they  came  ashore  they  were  put 
aboard  the  emergency  trains  so  rapidly  that  we  didn't  have 
a  chance  to  give  them  a  drop  of  it.  However,  we  did  sup- 
ply them  with  more  cigarettes  and  chocolate  and  after  the 
trains  left  we  treated  the  dock  superintendents  and  laborers 


244  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

to  as  much  coffee  and  biscuits  as  they  could  possibly  hold. 
That  turned  out  to  be  a  better  job  than  we  ever  thought. 
It  was  like  casting  bread  upon  the  waters,  because  in  the 
days  to  come  we  frequently  got  tips  by  telephone  from  the 
docks  —  of  course  we  didn't  know  where  they  came  from 
—  far  in  advance  of  official  notification  concerning  the  hour 
of  transport  arrivals  and  thereby  gained  time  for  fuller 
preparation.  I  know  that  the  (  Flying  Squadron '  made  a 
host  of  friends  for  the  American  Red  Cross." 

Mr.  Henry  P.  Davison,  Chairman  of  the  War  Council, 
was  a  witness  of  the  speed  with  which  the  Squadron  worked. 
Early  in  November,  1918,  while  making  a  two-day  tour  of 
inspection  of  Red  Cross  activities  in  the  South  of  England, 
he  was  the  guest  of  Colonel  Endicott  at  a  dinner  in  London 
which  was  attended  by  the  heads  of  the  various  Red  Cross 
departments.  Among  those  invited  was  Lieutenant 
Jeffers,  Commander  of  the  "  Flying  Squadron/7  who 
confided  to  a  bosom  friend  that  it  was  the  first  time  he  had 
been  able  to  get  into  a  white  collar  since  his  arrival  in  Eng- 
land ;  wherefore  it  was  an  event. 

In  an  address  of  congratulation  upon  the  work  the  entire 
Red  Cross  organization  had  done  in  Great  Britain,  Mr. 
Davison  came,  in  time,  to  speak  of  the  admirable  efficiency 
of  the  "  Flying  Squadron/7  with  particular  reference  to  the 
care  of  the  survivors  of  the  Otranto  disaster,  a  large  part 
of  which  had  fallen  to  Jeffers.  But  Jeffers  was  not  there 
to  hear.  Just  as  he  was  buttoning  his  white  collar  the  spe- 
cial telephone  of  the  "  Flying  Squadron  7  rang  like  mad. 
A  private  hospital  in  London  was  on  the  wire  with  the 
message  that  one  of  its  patients,  a  lieutenant  in  the  British 
Army,  was  undergoing  a  serious  operation  and  would  surely 
succumb  unless  some  tanks  of  oxygen  could  be  at  once  ob- 
tained. The  voice  explained  that  the  hospital  had  its  last 
tank  then  in  use  and  could  find  no  other  anywhere  in  Lon- 
don; and  would  not  the  American  Red  Cross  come  to  its 
aid? 

Off  came  the  gala  collar  and  away  went  all  idea  of  reach- 


"  THE  FLYING  SQUADRON  "  245 

ing  the  dinner  as  Jeffers  scrambled  into  his  blouse.  A 
scarcity  of  oxygen  containers  had  long  been  prevalent  in 
London ;  the  Red  Cross  had  not  been  able  to  keep  any  of 
them  in  stock,  but  it  was  now  up  to  the  Squadron  to  main- 
tain its  cherished  reputation.  There  were  three  possible 
sources  from  which  to  draw,  at  least  to  tap :  two  in  the 
city,  St.  Katharine's  Lodge  and  the  Red  Cross  Xaval  Hos- 
pital in  Park  Lane,  and  one,  U.  S.  Base  Hospital  29  at 
Tottenham,  eight  miles  away.  From  three  different  tele- 
phones these  places  were  called  and  as  each  promised  a  tank 
of  gas,  two  motor  cars  were  at  once  ordered  out  with  need- 
less instructions  to  the  drivers  to  go  over  the  tops  of  the 
houses  if  necessary  to  get  them.  And  within  an  hour  all 
three  tanks  were  delivered  at  the  private  hospital.  As  an 
appropriate  finis,  the  officer's  life  was  saved  -—  and  Jeffers 
got  to  the  dinner  in  time  for  coffee. 

"  Outside '  requests  such  as  this  often  came  to  the 
Squadron,  which  had  a  sufficiently  large  staff  to  answer 
every  call,  even  two  or  three  at  once.  An  unusual  one 
came  one  night  at  11  o'clock  in  a  telegram  from  a  small 
village  on  the  south  coast  of  England;  it  was  signed  with 
a  woman's  name : 

My  father,  late  captain  U.  S.  Transport  Service,  now  dying, 
has  always  expressed  wish  for  U.  S.  chaplain  at  the  last.  Can 
you  favor  me  with  name  and  address  of  one  within  reach? 
Grateful  thanks. 

The  Squadron  man  on  night  duty  had  never  before  been 
asked  for  that  kind  of  help,  but,  calling  his  duty-mate  to  re- 
place him,  he  went  out  to  get,  not  an  address,  but  a  chap- 
lain. After  an  hour's  journey  he  found  Chaplain  Locke, 
of  the  Red  Cross,  returned  to  Headquarters  and  telegraphed 
the  answer : 

Chaplain  arrive  your  house  to-morrow  morning.  Deepest 
sympathy  of  the  American  Red  Cross. 

Chaplain  Locke  caught  the  first  train  for  the  village 
shortly  after  daylight. 


246  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

Toward  the  end  of  October,  1918,  the  "  flu '  became 
severe  among  the  sailors  at  Berehaven,  the  American  Naval 
Base  at  the  southern  tip  of  Ireland.  There  were  no  hos- 
pital accommodations  ashore  sufficient  to  cope  with  the  out- 
break and  the  situation  grew  to  be  acute  almost  im- 
mediately. The  Red  Cross  obtained  from  Admiral  Sims 
the  necessary  authority  to  set  up  a  hospital  on  the  Furious 
Pier  and  Lieutenant  Cameron  of  the  Squadron  was 
selected  to  take  the  requisite  equipment  to  the  scene. 
This  consisted  of  twenty-five  beds,  with  their  mattresses  and 
pillows,  seventy-five  sheets  and  blankets,  six  wicker  lounge- 
chairs,  and  a  generous  quantity  of  medicinal  supplies. 
The  instructions  to  Cameron  were  as  terse  as  always  to  a 
member  of  the  corps :  "  See  how  quickly  you  can  get  to 
Bantry  Bay ! ' 

Now,  speed  on  such  a  journey  at  such  a  period  would 
have  been  a  problem  to  a  man  traveling  all  alone;  it  be- 
came something  indescribable  when  he  had  to  take  two 
truck-loads  of  impedimenta  with  him.  But  the  Squadron 
men  were  accustomed  to  this  kind  of  thing,  surprised  at 
nothing.  As  soon  as  the  trucks  were  loaded  at  the  Red 
Cross  warehouse  in  Coleman  Street,  Cameron  piloted  them 
to  the  passenger  train  for  Holyhead  and  had  their  contents 
put  aboard  as  personal  baggage !  "  It  was  the  first  time, 
I'll  bet  you,  that  those  railway  porters  ever  saw  a  man 
traveling  about  with  his  own  personal  hospital,"  Cameron 
said  afterward,  "  and  either  from  curiosity  or  interest  they 
were  right  on  the  job  when  it  came  to  packing  the  stuff  into 
the  luggage  vans." 

It  was  6  :30  o'clock  next  morning  when  the  train  reached 
Holyhead  and  there  the  first  hitch  occurred.  The  mail 
boat  could  not  take  the  "  hospital "  aboard  on  account  of  its 
weight,  but  Cameron  searched  up  and  down  the  piers  until 
he  found  a  cargo  boat  which  was  going  out  that  afternoon. 
As  there  was  no  one  else  to  help,  every  one  being  busy,  he 
and  a  solitary  porter  appropriated  a  pair  of  hand  trucks 
and,  piece  by  piece,  pushed  that  "  personal  hospital '  to 


"  THE  FLYING  SQUADRON  "  247 

another  pier  at  which  the  cargo  boat  was  moored.  By  2 
o'clock  it  was  all  stowed  in  the  hold  and  an  hour  and  a  half 
later  the  vessel  sailed.  Seven  hours  were  required  for  the 
run,  four  hours  longer  than  the  time  of  the  mail  boat,  but 
the  cargo  carrier  went  slowly  and  warily  because  only  a 
short  time  before  the  Irish  mail  boat  Leinster  had  been  tor- 
pedoed in  those  waters  with  the  loss  of  more  than  six  hun- 
dred lives  and  the  Japanese  ship  Iliramo  Maru  had  met  a 
like  fate.  The  skipper  was  taking  as  few  chances  as  pos- 
sible, especially  as  he  was  running  without  convoy  of  any 
kind. 

At  Kingston,  Cameron  cajoled  the  crew  into  breaking  out 
his  belongings  quickly  and  they  were  stacked  on  the  pier 
by  1  o'clock.  The  next  train  bound  in  the  general  direc- 
tion of  Bantry  Bay  and  Berehaven  was  due  to  leave  Xorth 
Wall,  Dublin,  six  miles  away,  at  10  :30  o'clock  that  morn- 
ing, so  the  Squadron  man  hired  two  motor  trucks,  piled  his 
hospital  into  them,  made  the  transfer  and  got  to  Cork  late 
that  night.  Now  occurred  the  second  hitch.  It  was  Satur- 
day night  and  there  were  no  trains  for  Berehaven  on  Sun- 
davs !  It  was  a  heart-breaker,  but  Cameron  "  carried  on  ' 

t/  f 

as  well  as  he  could,  having  the  two  railway  luggage  vans 
which  contained  his-  stores  transferred  to  another  railway 
line  and  attached  to  the  Berehaven  train  just  five  minutes 
before  it  drew  out  of  Cork  on  Monday  morning. 

At  2  :30  o'clock  that  afternoon  he  delievered  the  "  hos- 
pital '  to  Captain  Russell  at  the  Naval  Base,  less  than 
forty-eight  hours  after  leaving  London ! 

In  innumerable  instances  the  Squadron  saved  the  day  by 
rushing  emergency  supplies  to  hospitals,  by  taking  addi- 
tional quantities  of  coffee,  food  and  cigarettes  to  railway 
and  camp  canteens  when  their  stocks  had  been  suddenly 
exhausted  by  unusual  demand,  and  by  caring  for  every 
American  soldier  and  sailor,  officer  and  enlisted  man  who 
came  into  its  hands  or  who  could  be  enticed  into  them.  It 
was  a  sleepless,  fatigueless  organization  and  thousands  of 
Americans  who  passed  through  England  on  their  way  to  or 


248  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

from  the  battle  areas  will  never  know  how  much  of  the 
comfort  that  was  brought  to  them  came  through  the  en- 
thusiastic, devoted  service  of  the  "  Flying  Squadron." 

There  is  another  story  of  this  little  band  of  men  still  to 
be  related.  Its  rightful  place  is  in  the  narrative  of  the 
American  Expedition  to  Russia,  and  there  it  will  be  found. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

A  ROYAL  "  BERTH-DECK  ' 

IN"  England,  custom  and  precedent  were  believed  to  be 
established  upon  a  rock,  firmer,  perhaps,  than  else- 
where in  all  the  world.  "  It  just  isn't  done,  you  know  ' 
was  an  expression  with  a  fixed  and  useful  place  in  the  lan- 
guage, serving  to  convey  both  surprise  and  finality.  It  was 
something  behind  which  one  could  not  go  and  possessed  a 
determined  value  in  maintaining  dignities,  and  all  that  sort 
of  thing,  as  well  as  holding  the  country  rigid  against  un- 
desirable experiment. 

And  then  the  war  came  and,  with  it,  a  new  order. 
Things  had  to  be  done  which  had  never  been  done  before, 
nor  were  likely  ever  to  be  done  again.  So  the  venerable 
expression  recurred  with  decreasing  frequency  un.til  it  be- 
came meaningless  and,  at  last,  obsolete.  Englishmen  grew 
accustomed  to  whatever  strange  demands  this  new  order 
made  imperative.  They  ceased  to  be  surprised  at  any- 
thing, though  it  threatened  the  rock  itself. 

This  was  all  very  well  in  war  time,  but,  with  the  war  at 
an  end  and  the  conventions  clamoring  for  recognition, 
imagine  saying  to  an  average  Londoner,  even  in  the  most 
polite  way,  "  We'd  like  to  borrow  your  Royal  Courts  of 
Justice  to  use  the  building  as  sleeping  quarters  for  Ameri- 
can sailors !" 

What  a  picture  it  conjures  to  the  mind  !  —  consternation 

-  incredulity,  and  then  "  You're  spoofing,  what  ?  ' 

But  the  picture  is  all  wrong  in  any  event,  for  these 

identical  words  were  addressed,  not,  as  it  happened,  to 

an  average  Londoner,  but  to  the  Lord  High  Chancellor  of 

Great  Britain  and  Ireland  —  and  fort3T-eight  hours  later 

249 


250  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

twelve  hundred  American  sailors  were  asleep  in  the  Royal 
Courts  of  Justice  of  Great  Britain ! 

Nor  was  it  in  the  emergency  of  a  single  night  that  this 
extraordinary  thing  came  to  pass.  Every  night  for  a  week 
the  sailors  slept  there  —  more  than  nine  thousand  of  them 
in  all  —  the  welcome  guests  of  a  hospitable  Lord  High 
Chancellor  and  the  American  Red  Cross,  which  had  asked 
this  unprecedented  favor  in  their  behalf. 

The  mere  idea  of  it  intrigues  the  imagination !  The 
"  Great  Hall "  of  the  Royal  Courts,  ante-chamber  of  Eng- 
land's highest  and  most  austere  tribunals  —  a  sailors' 
"  hotel ! '  This  vast,  stone  edifice,  associated  with  the 
very  foundation  of  an  Empire  people's  rights,  the  abode  of 
unsmiling  effigies  of  countless  departed  Chancellors  in  all 
the  solemnity  of  wig  and  robe  and  given  to  endless  nights 
of  respectful  silence  —  echoing  to  -the  jest  and  laughter  of 
a  horde  of  irrepressible  bluejackets  going  reluctantly  to 
bed !  A  thousand  of  them  with  their  mattresses  dotting  a 
rich  mosaic  floor  as  long  as  a  New  York  City  block  and 
wider  than  Fifth  Avenue.  High  in  the  gray  walls  about 
them,  the  dim,  narrow  windows,  many-paned  and  blazoned 
with  the  colorful  arms  of  England's  successive  Chancellors 
for  nine  hundred  years.  And  over  all  lost  in  the  whisper- 
ing darkness,  the  deep  arches  or  a  vaulted  roof  for  ceiling, 
eighty  feet  and  more  above  their  drowsy  heads. 

But  these  were  not  all  of  the  sailormen.  There  were 
two  hundred  others,  scattered  through  the  flanking  alcoves, 
on  the  wide  stair  landings,  beneath  the  dignified  busts  of 
the  gowned  Lords  in  the  corridors,  even  in  the  high-flung 
balcony  in  which  Queen  Victoria  sat,  surrounded  by  her 
Court,  and  ceremoniously  opened  the  great  structure  thirty- 
six  years  before. 

As  unrestricted  and  inconceivable  as  their  possession 
was,  it  meant  even  more  than  a  lodging  for  the  night.  Eor 
with  them  came  an  American  Red  Cross  canteen,  a  cheery 
complement  of  workers  with  a  numerous  paraphernalia  of 
urns  and  dishes,  food  and  drink.  It  provided  them  with 


A  ROYAL  "BERTH-DECK"  251 

supper  and  breakfast  throughout  the  period  of  their  me- 
morable occupancy,  never  closing  until  the  last  hungry  man 
had  struggled  in,  though  it  were  three  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing yet  ready  for  the  first  who  stirred  when  daylight  came. 
And  one  night,  these  tireless  young  women  of  the  canteen 
put  by  awhile  their  cups  and  things  and  gave  the  blue- 
jackets a  "  supper  dance ''  to  the  music  of  a  Naval  u  Jazz 
gan(i  »_  in  the  "  Great  Hall "  of  the  Koyal  Courts  of 
Justice ! 

Verily,  the  old  order  changeth ! 

But  this  is  inverting  a  remarkable  story  and  beginning 
it  at  the  end.  Its  actual  preface  is  the  detachment,  after 
the  Armistice,  of  the  great  ships  of  the  American  Navy, 
with  their  15,000  men,  from  important  and  exacting  service 
with  the  British  Grand  Fleet. 

For  more  than  a  year  they  had  been  constantly  under 
steam  in  the  bleak  waters  north  of  Scotland,  their  crews 
always  on  tiptoe,  never  ashore  save  in  small  parties  for  a 
few  hours  at  a  time  and  these  at  long  and  trying  intervals. 
It  had  been  "  liberty  "  but  not  much  else. 

That  the  men  were  entitled  to  a  share  of  real  sailormen 
diversion,  once  their  vigilant  task  ended,  was  well 
recognized  by  their  Commanders  and,  of  course,  London  at 
once  suggested  itself  as  the  ideal  place  for  it. 

But  London  was  already  full  to  overflowing,  hotels  and 
lodging-houses  were  bulging  with  the  people  squeezed  into 
them,  and  civilians,  as  well  -as  soldiers  and  seamen,  were 
roaming  the  streets  in  search  of  beds.  To  find  sleeping 
quarters  for  several  thousand  American  sailors  was  de- 
clared to  be  an  impossibility.  Even  a  particularly  agile 
A.B.  would  have  difficulty  in  finding  enough  to  swing  a 
hammock. 

This  was  a  great  disappointment  to  those  at  Navy  Head- 
quarters because  they  wanted  the  men  to  have  a  chance  to 
visit  London  but  had  no  intention  of  permitting  them  to 
come  and  shift  for  themselves  in  a  stsange  and  over- 
crowded city.  So  it  had  been  definitely  decided  that  such 


252  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

liberty  would  be  granted  to  only  a  small  number  of  them. 
The  others  would  have  to  stand  their  regret  with  the  same 
fortitude  with  which  they  stood  their  watches.  And  in  the 
meantime  the  ships  were  on  their  leisurely  way  from 
Inverness  to  Southampton,  every  man  Jack  aboard  shad- 
ing his  eyes  and  looking  toward  London. 

It  is  just  at  this  point  that  the  American  Red  Cross 
comes  into  the  story. 

One  day  —  it  was  while  the  fleet  was  steaming  leisurely 
southward  —  Captain  Richard  Armstrong,  the  Director  of 
the  Red  Cross  Bureau  of  Naval  Service,  asked  a  member  of 
Admiral  Sims'  staff  what  arrangements  had  been  made  to 
bring  the  crews  to  London.  The  regretful  reply  was  that 
beyond  allowing  a  few  men  liberty,  the  thing  was  quite  out 
of  the  question. 

"  London  is  jammed  with  people  now.  There  isn't  a  bed 
left  in  it.  We  can't  let  nine  or  ten  thousand  bluejackets 
stand  on  the  street  corners  all  night  long."  This  was,  in 
substance,  the  remainder  of  the  reply. 

What  followed  will  undoubtedlv  be  the  better  understood 

t> 

with  a  word  or  two  about  Armstrong.  In  the  first  place, 
there  are  very  few  officers  in  the  American  Navy  who  do  not 
know  him.  The  time  is  not  far  distant  when  every  rear 
admiral  on  the  list  will  be  "  Hello,  Bill,"  or  "  Hello,  Tom," 
to  him  —  many  of  the  "  four  stripers  "  are  that  now.  For 
Dick  Armstrong  coached  the  football  teams  and  the  crews 
at  Annapolis  in  1897-8—9  and  has  kept  in  touch  with  the 
Navy  ever  since.  Turning  back  one  biographical  leaf  will 
disclose  him  at  Yale  in  the  Class  of  1895,  on  the  'Varsity 
eleven  and  in  the  'Varsity  boat. 

Armstrong  fully  appreciated  that  the  answer  to  his  in- 
quiry was  reasonable  enough,  but  it  did  not  satisfy  him. 

"  Too  bad,  isn't  it? '  he  asked  after  a  pause.  "Those 
fellows  have  been  up  north  so  long,  it's  a  pity  they  can't 
come  here  just  for  a  day  or  two,  isn't  it  ?" 

He  was  not  asking  the  questions  with  the  least  expecta- 


A  ROYAL  "BERTH-DECK'  253 

tion  of  contradiction ;  he  was  gaining  time  in  which  to 
think. 

"  You're  going  to  have  a  lot  of  badly  disappointed  boys 
on  your  hands  if  they  don't  get  a  chance  to  come  to  Lon- 
don," he  went  on.  "And  I  look  at  it  this  way,  too:  we 
ought  to  do  all  we  can  for  international  good  feeling  - 
it's  going  to  do  a  lot  of  good  to  have  our  bluejackets  come 
here  and  sort  of  mix  up  with  the  people.  They  don't  know 
the  English;  the  English  don't  know  them.  It's  a  pity 
they'll  have  to  go  home  and  take  Scapa  Flow  and  the 
Orkneys  as  their  only  recollection.  I  think  it's  a  duty  we 
owe  to  these  boys,  indeed  I  do,  to  bring  them  here. 
They've  worked  hard,  they  ought  to  have  a  chance  to  play 
a  bit  -  -  and  if  they  play  in  London  they'll  be  playing  on 
our  side!  Our  soldiers  have  made  the  English  good 
friends  of  ours ;  it's  too  bad  we  can't  show  them  our  sailor- 
folk." 

The  naval  staff  officer  agreed  with  everything  Armstrong 
said  but  repeated  that  there  was  no  place  in  London  to 
house  the  men  at  night.  The  day  offered  no  problem  at 
all ;  that  began  with  the  dark. 

"  Well,  now  listen  to  this  proposition,"  Armstrong  said 
at  last.  "  The  Red  Cross  will  do  the  impossible  and  pro- 
vide quarters  for  these  men.  We'll  get  them  somewhere. 
And  when  we  do,  will  you  go  right  into  the  Admiral's  cabin 
and  say  it's  absolutely  necessary  that  the  men  come  to 
London  ?  " 

The  officer  agreed  to  this,  probably  more  to  please  an 
enthusiast  than  with  any  idea  that  the  thing  could  be  done. 
There  was,  however,  one  proviso:  the  Red  Cross  would 
have  to  guarantee  the  care  of  the  men,  otherwise  the 
Navy  would  grant  liberty  to  a  few  sailors  only. 

Armstrong  did  not  hesitate  one  moment. 
'  I'll  give  you  that  guarantee  here  and  now,"  he  said. 

The  Red  Cross  will  provide  for  these  men.     It  will  give 
them  sleeping  quarters  and  supper  and  breakfast  as  long 


254  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

as  they're  here.  You  people  send  them  up  to  London  and 
we'll  do  the  rest !  " 

And  that  day  he  and  Captain  H.  S.  Wells,  Director  of 
the  ever-resourceful  Emergency  Bureau  of  the  Red  Cross, 
which  thrived  on  problems,  set  out  to  ransack  London  for 
what  no  one  believed  to  exist  —  sleeping  quarters  for  thou- 
sands of  men.  Hotels  and  lodging-houses  were,  for  good 
reason,  eliminated  in  the  search  which  followed.  Empty 
buildings,  skating  rinks  and  dance  halls  were  what  re- 
mained and  these  were  investigated  throughout  the  city, 
but  not  a  place  for  the  sailors  could  be  found.  Armstrong, 
still  sanguine,  took  his  troubles  to  every  one  he  knew,  hop- 
ing that  some  one  might  suggest  a  solution.  During  his 
round  he  asked  a  friend  on  The  Daily  Mail  to  help  with  a 
paragraph  or  two  about  the  desirability  of  having  the 
American  sailors  come  to  London,  with  accent  upon  "  in- 
ternational friendship,  hands-across-the-sea  —  you  under- 
stand, old  man.  See  if  you  can't  get  Lord  Northcliffe  in- 
terested." 

The  first  result  of  this  was  both  Lord  ISForthcliffe's  in- 
terest and  an  article  in  the  Mail;  the  second  was  that 
Lieutenant  Colonel  A.  G.  Cousins  of  the  British  Army, 
in  charge  of  the  billeting  of  English  troops  in  London, 
caught  a  ripple  of  the  splash  Armstrong  was  making.  He 
came  forward  at  once  with  an  offer  to  the  Red  Cross  of 
the  use  of  seven  drill  halls  in  the  city  belonging  to  the 
London  Scottish,  the  Queen's  Westminsters  and  other 
London  regiments.  He  explained  that  they  would  accom- 
modate about  1,400  men  and  could  be  withdrawn  from  the 
service  of  their  own  troops  for  a  limited  period  but  that 
the  Red  Cross  would  have  to  supply  the  requisite  bedding 
and  blankets. 

This  was  an  encouraging  beginning  but  only  a  beginning, 
so  Armstrong  and  the  others  continued  their  quest  and 
tramped  London  from  end  to  end. 

The  day  before  the  United  States  ships  came  into 
Portsmouth,  an  American  resident  in  London,  D.  Camp- 


A  ROYAL  "BERTH-DECK'  255 

bell-Lee,  Esq.,  a  Barrister-at-Law  and  Secretary  of  the 
American  Navy  League  in  London,  suggested  that  perhaps 
the  Royal  Courts  of  Justice  might  be  an  excellent  place  in 
which  to  billet  the  sailors.  Armstrong  and  the  Emergency 
Bureau  would  no  more  have  thought  of  suggesting  this  than 
of  hinting  for  Buckingham  Palace!  But  Mr.  Campbell- 
Lee  was  quite  in  earnest  and  even  asked  the  Red  Cross  to 
inspect  the  Great  Hall  "  to  see  whether  it  would  do." 
What  the  Red  Cross  men  found  took  their  breath  awav. 

u 

Here  was  a  vast  chamber,  240  feet  long,  45  feet  wide  and 
85  feet  high,  warm  as  a  bedroom  and  equal  to  berthing  all 
the  men  of  the  fleet!  In  the  groined  crypt  adjoining  it 
were  dining  rooms  and  a  restaurant  kitchen  equipment. 
The  place  was  ideal,  but  it  was  impossible  not  to  believe 
that  there  was  a  catch  in  it  somewhere.  Nevertheless,  the 
American  barrister  assured  them  it  was  far  from  impossible 
and  would  send  them  word  about  it  in  an  hour  or  so.  In 
that  interval  he  went  to  the  High  Lord  Chancellor  and 
lay  the  matter  before  him.  It  required  less  than  one 
minute  for  Lord  Finlay  to  decide.  He  told  Mr.  Campbell- 
Lee  that  the  American  Red  Cross  might  have  the  Great 
Hall  for  the  sailors'  use  for  as  manv  nights  as  were  neces- 

t/ 

sary,  only  asking  that  the  greatest  care  be  exercised  to 
prevent  encroachment  upon  the  regular  and  ordinary  rou- 
tine of  the  chamber  and  its  daily  employment  in  connec- 
tion with  the  courts.  And  as  Mr.  Campbell-Lee  left  his 
chambers,  the  Chancellor  said,  with  a  smile,  "  I  am  sorry 
that  we  did  not  think  of  this  hospitality  long  ago." 

When  Armstrong  learned  this  he  dropped  everything  else 
and  flew  to  Navy  Headquarters. 

"Now  let  your  bluejackets  come!'  he  cried  to  his 
friend  on  the  Staff.  "  We've  got  a  palace  for  'em !  Send 
ten  thousand  if  vou  want,  onlv  let  'em  come  in  two  or  three 

•/  /  «/ 

batches  and  when  they  get  home  they'll  certainly  have  a 
yarn  to  spin.  They're  going  to  bunk  in  the  Royal  Law 
Courts  which,  I  take  it,  is  going  some !  ' 

This  admitted  of  no  disagreement  and,  leaving  the  Navy 


256  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

captain  with  his  mouth  wide  open,  Armstrong  dashed  back 
to  cheer  up  the  Emergency  Bureau  which  had  received 
the  news  and  already  begun  its  work. 

The  Royal  Courts  of  Justice,  in  the  Strand  at  Temple 
Bar,  which  was  once  a  London  slum,  is  an  imposing 
structure  housing  the  entire  twenty-three  civil  courts  of 
England.  The  Great  Hall,  which  is  the  main  entrance 
to  them,  is  built  of  Portland  ston'e,  quarried  by  prisoners 
at  Dartmoor,  and  is  one  of  the  great  monuments  of  modern 
architecture.  In  employing  it  as  a  billet  for  American 
sailors  it  was  imperative  that  the  injunction  of  the  Lord 
High  Chancellor  be  carried  out  to  the  letter  and  in  such 
a  way  that  no  trace  of  its  novel  use  should  remain  when  the 
time  came  for  the  courts  to  open.  The  courts  were  sitting 
daily  from  9.30  until  5.30  so,  between  those  hours,  on 
the  other  side  of  the  clock,  the  Great  Hall  with  its  five 
miles  of  alcoves  and  corridors,  was  at  the  service  of  the 
sailors. 

The  day  the  permission  was  granted,  the  Emergency 
Bureau  had  10,000  billeting  cards  printed  for  use  of  the 
men  assigned  to  the  drill  halls  and  those  who  came  -to  the 
Law  Courts.  The  cards  bore  the  name  and  address  of  each 
billeting  place,  the  hour  at  which  it  was  open,  a  list  of 
things  of  interest  to  be  seen  in  London  and  a  note : 
"  Show  this  card  to  any  police  officer  and  he  will  give  you 
directions."  Another  little  card  was  also  printed  giving 
information  about  the  Great  Hall,  its  dimensions,  some- 
thing of  its  history  and  a  concluding  paragraph  which  said : 
"  Every  sailor  who  sleeps  here  may  justly  feel  that  he  has 
had  a  unique  experience,  as  this  courtesy  which  has  been 
extended  is  without  precedent," 

These  things  accomplished  and  everything  else  arranged, 
Armstrong  and  the  Emergency  Bureau  sat  and  waited  for 
word  from  Navy  Headquarters.  It  came  on  the  morning 
of  December  4,  1918,  saying  that  the  first  liberty  party 
of  bluejackets  from  the  fleet  would  arrive  that  evening. 


A  ROYAL  "BERTH-DECK"  257 

As  the  Courts  were  busy  up  to  the  very  minute  of  their 
closing  at  5.30  nothing  could  he  done  toward  transforming 
the  Great  Hall  uritil  after  that  time,  with  an  added  interval 
to  permit  the  last  court  employee  and  the  last  clerk  to 
leave  the  great  building.  Early  in  the  day  it  had  been 
possible  to  move  an  adequate  equipment  of  mattresses  and 
blankets  into  the  several  drill  ha'lls  and  at  once  the  Red 
Gross  turned  these  places  over  to  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  for 
administration,  in  accordance  with  an  agreement  with  that 
organization. 

On  the  stroke  of  half-past  five  the  Red  Cross  motor 
lorries  began  their  task  with  the  Great  Hall.  From  the 
Southwark  Warehouse  in  London  twelve  hundred  mat- 
tresses and  thirty-six  hundred  blankets,  kept  for  just  such 
an  emergency,  were  broken  out  and  loaded  into  the  vans 
which  ran  back  and  forth  between  the  warehouse  and  the 
Courts  until  all  had  been  delivered.  A  corps  of  fifteen 
Red  Cross  men  in  the  Great  Hall  stowed  the  bed  gear  in 
careful  piles  in  the  alcoves.  Also  they  hung  a  huge  Ameri- 
can flag  and  one  equally  large  Red  Cross  banner  high 
across  the  lofty  hall  to  give  their  unfailing  greeting  to  the 
bluejackets.  Meanwhile  the  canteen  service  was  busy 
transporting  its  impedimenta  of  urns  and  cups  and  food, 
coffee,  sandwiches,  chocolate  and  buns,  and  "  setting  up 
shop  ' '  in  the  vaulted  crypt.  Eight  energetic  young  women 
attended  to  that  job  and  enlarged  upon  it  a  bit  by  decorat- 
ing their  severe  precincts  with  flags. 

It  was  at  9  o'clock  that  night  that  the  first  liberty  party 
from  the  fleet  arrived  at  Paddington  Station  in  London. 
By  that  time  the  Royal  Courts  had  been  prepared  and  the 
Great  Hall  had  relapsed  into  the  silence  of  waiting.  A 
detail  of  Red  Cross  men  with  packets  of  underground  rail- 
wav  tickets  in  their  hands  were  at  the  station  to  meet  the 

»/ 

sailors  and  escort  twelve  hundred  of  them  to  their  strange 
"  hotel,"  the  others  being  told  off  for  a  lodging  in  the 
London  drill  halls. 


258  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

The  impression  that  the  Great  Hall  of  the  Law  Courts 
made  upon  the  bluejackets  as  they  piled  into  it  will  doubt- 
less remain  with  them  for  many  a  day. 

"  Gee,  Bill,  we're  in  a  church ! '  one  of  them  said  in 
a  half  whisper  as  he  stared  about  him,  the  clustered  lights 
revealing  the  vastness  of  the  place  with  its  pillared, 
ecclesiastic-looking  door-ways  and  its  long  rows  of  narrow, 
pointed,  stained-glass  windows. 

"  Then  you're  out  of  luck,  Bo,"  was  the  ready  answer. 

"  Shut  up,  you  two,"  came  in  quick  admonition  from 
another.  "  Don't  you  know  where  you  are  ?  You'll  wake 
up  the  King  in  a  minute  and  then  you'll  get  merrihel." 

The  marble  statue  of  the  architect  of  the  great  structure 
at  the  right  of  the  entrance  caught  the  eye  of  one  of  the 
guests.  "  Say,  fellers,"  he  called,  jerking  a  nod  toward 
it,  "  there's  a  guy  what  beat  us  to  it  and  got  a  room ! ' 

In  the  midst  of  the  joking  a  bluejacket  became  really 
serious.  "  Stow  that  kidding  stuff  a  minute,  will  you," 
he  exclaimed,  "  and  tell  me  what  room  this  is  ? ' 

A  shipmate  wheeled  on  him  with  the  answer.  "  Well, 
mister,  since  you  ask,"  he  said,  "  it's  my  room.  Yours 
is  ~No.  72  on  the  second  floor.  Here,  boy,  show  the  gentle- 
men up  to  72." 

In  all  the  joking  and  crowding  and  curiosity,  the  Red 
Cross  men  had  to  work  quickly  and  sympathetically  to  get 
their  charges  in  order.  Each  man  was  required  to  register, 
after  which  he  received  a  billeting  card  and  was  told  that 
the  Red  Cross  canteen  was  open  in  the  crypt  and  waiting 
for  him. 

"  And  after  you've  had  supper,"  Armstrong  advised  each 
squad  as  it  passed,  "  you  can  go  out  and  see  the  town. 
Come  back  here  whenever  you  get  sleepy.  There's  a  mat- 
tress with  three  blankets  for  every  man.  You'll  find  them 
stacked  in  the  alcoves.  Bring  them  out  here,  if  you  want, 
or  find  a  place  for  yourself  anywhere  in  the  corridors. 
This  is  your  house  now,  and  you  don't  need  a  latchkey ! ' 

Most  of  the  men,  of  course,  hurried  to  the  canteen  where 


A  ROYAL  "BERTH-DECK''  259 

gallons  of  hot  coffee  and  huge  basketfuls  of  sandwiches  and 
honey-spread  buns  had  been  prepared  for  them.  Others, 
however,  who  felt  that  there  wasn't  anything  new  about 
eating,  they  could  do  that  any  old  time,  trailed  out  of  the 
II all  and  into  the  flow  of  the  busy  Strand.  It  cannot  be 
said,  however,  that  those  who  availed  themselves  of  this 
initial  canteen  service  dawdled  very  long  over  it.  Within 
a  short  time  they,  too,  had  fared  out  into  the  crowded 
London  streets. 

To  a  large  majority  of  these  men  this  was  the  first 
time  they  had  ever  come  into  contact  with  the  American 
Red  Cross.  Their  arduous  work  in  the  northern  waters, 
their  isolation,  as  it  were,  from  any  such  ministrations,  had 
robbed  them  even  of  acquaintance  with  the  Red  Cross. 
Most  of  them  knew  it  only  by  hearsay  and  that  at  home. 
The  result  of  this  was  a  number  of  amusing  but  wholly  for- 
givable misunderstandings  on  the  part  of  some  of  those 
who  came  to  the  Great  Hall  of  the  Law  Courts.  They 
believed  that  payment  for  what  they  received  was  an  in- 
evitable requirement,  and  scarcely  one  of  the  eight  young 
women  in  the  canteen  failed  of  an  experience  with  this 
belief. 

One  of  the  first  of  these  began  with  the  offhand  inquiry, 
"  H.ow  much,  Sister? '  as  a  bluejacket  set  his  cup  on  the 
canteen  bar  and  reached  into  the  pocket  of  his  pea  jacket. 

"  How  much  for  what  ? ' '  the  young  woman  asked,  striv- 
ing to  keep  the  twinkle  out  of  her  eye. 

"  Let's  see ;  twro  cups  of  coffee,  two  sandwiches,  a  bun, 
a  pack  of  cigarettes  -  -  oh,  yes,  and  a  bar  of  chocolate." 

The  girl  pretended  to  figure  a  moment  and  then  replied, 
"  That  will  cost  you  just  -  -  nothing  at  all !  J 

"You're  joshing,  ain't  you,  Sister?'  Out  came  his 
hand  with  a  tinkle  of  silver  coins.  He  looked  at  her  in- 
credulously as  she  turned  to  refill  several  cups  from  a 
steaming  urn.  When  she  came  back  to  him  he  darted  an- 
other question  at  her.  "  Say,  are  you  Limies  ? ' 

The  young  woman  who  knew  that  this  was  the  all-corn- 


260  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

preliensive  sailor  word  for  the  English  —  a  relic  of  the 
days  when  their  ships  were  called  "  lime  juicers  " —  shook 
her  head.  "  No,  we're  Americans,  just  as  you  are.  This 
is  the  American  Red  Cross.  Do  you  mean  to  say  you 
didn't  see  the  big  flag  when  you  came  in  ? ' 

A  wide  grin  broke  across  the  sailor's  face.  "  Excuse 
me,  Sister;  I'll  take  it  all  back/'  he  stammered,  "  I  thought 
I  was  three  thousand  miles  from  America ! ? 

Later  that  same  evening  another  bluejacket,  just  as  in- 
tent upon  paying  for  his  supper,  put  a  half-crown  upon  the 
counter.  "  Is  that  enough,  Miss  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  No,  it's  a  half-crown  too  much,"  was  the  canteen  work- 
er's reply,  trusting  that  her  smile  would  explain. 

"  I  don't  get  you,  Sister,"  the  sailor  confessed,  looking 
dubiously  at  both  her  and  the  coin.  "  Nothing  to  pay  ? ' 

"  Not  a  penny,"  the  worker  declared.  "  This  is  only 
a  gift  from  yourself  to  yourself.  It's  your  Red  Cross,  you 
know,  not  ours.  The  sailor  hesitated  between  a  blush  and 
a  grin,  then,  pocketing  the  money  he  leaned  'across  the 
counter  and  said,  "  If  that's  so,  Sister,  I'll  take  another 
cup  of  my  coffee !  ' 

The  coffee  apparently  was  the  hit  of  the  evening  and 
any  number  of  bluejackets  demonstrated  the  fact  that  for 
years  the  doctors  have  been  all  wrong  about  the  liquid 
capacity  of  the  human  stomach.  One  of  the  men  pro- 
claimed that  it  alone  was  worth  a  trip  to  London. 

"  It's  like  the  good  old  stuff  we  used  to  get  at  home," 
he  explained  to  a  worker  between  bites  and  sups  as  he 
hung  about  the  coffee  urns.  "  When  do  we  begin  paying, 
Sister  ?  " 

"  You  don't  ever  begin,"  was  the  amused  answer,  which 
halted  the  cup  on  its  way  to  an  open  mouth.      i  By  the 
way,  your  mother's  a  member  of  the  Red  Cross,  isn't  she  ? ' 
the  canteen  girl  asked. 

"  She  sure  is/'  was  the  quick  reply.  "  She  knits  and 
sews  things  for  it.  My  sister's  a  member  of  it,  too;  she 
got  up  a  concert  for  the  last  drive." 


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A  ROYAL  "BERTH-DECK"  201 

"  Well,  then,  you  can  think  that  your  mother  made  this 
coffee  and  your  sister  put  the  honey  in  the  buns.  They 
couldn't  come  over  themselves  to  give  them  to  you,  so  they 
sent  us  instead,  do  you  see  ?  Now  you  don't  want  to  pay, 
do  you  ? ' 

The  arrested  cup  went  up  again,  raised  this  time  to  the 
level  of  one  of  the  Red  Cross  banners  over  the  urns. 
"  Here's  to  you,  friend,"  said  the  sailor,  with  a  nod  to  the 
banner,  and  drained  the  cup. 

"  Thanks  for  that,"  the  worker  replied,  with  a  quick 
little  laugh.  "  And  remember  that  wherever  you  see  the 
flag  of  the  American  Red  Cross  you  can  be  sure  that  your 
mother  and  your  sister  have  helped  to  put  it  there." 

The  lure  of  London  was  quick  to  draw  the  remaining 
men  away  even  from  the  attractions  of  the  canteen  and 
within  half  an  hour  the  Great  Hall  was  once  more  prac- 
tically deserted.  But  in  the  crypt  there  was  no  resting,  be- 
cause in  a  few  hours  the  sailors  would  come  trooping  in 
again,  just  as  hungry  as  before.  So  the  coffee  urns  were 
refilled  and  all  hands  fell  to  preparing  the  dripping  honey 
buns. 

It  was,  perhaps,  half  an  hour  after  midnight  that  the 
returning  began,  the  men  drifting  in  by  twos  and  threes, 
some  of  them  promptly  setting  a  course  for  the  canteen, 
others  foot-weary  and  glad  to  turn  in  at  once.  Although 
the  Navy  had  provided  a  police  detail,  there  never  was  a 
crowd  more  easily  managed,  and  this  held  true  to  the 
very  end  of  the  visit.  Practically  the  only  service  the 
police  had  to  render  was  to  indicate  the  four  long  lines 
with  a  wide  aisle  down  the  center,  in  which  the  sailors 
were  to  lay  their  mattresses.  If,  however,  they  preferred 
to  go  off  in  corners  by  themselves  they  were  at  liberty 
to  do  it.  Each  man  had  his  three  blankets  with  his  mat- 
tress and  as  the  Great  Hall  was,  in  addition,  well  heated, 
the  berthing  was  eminently  comfortable. 

The  homing  of  the  bluejackets  was  somewhat  of  the 
nature  of  a  procession  since  it  required  nearly  three  hours 


262  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

to  pass  a  given  point  —  the  portal  of  the  Great  Hall.  But 
eventually  every  man  straggled  in  and  generally  by  three 
o'clock  all  was  quiet. 

In  order  that  the  Great  Hall  might  be  put  all  ship- 
shape and  Bristol  fashion  in  readiness  for  the  Court  pro- 
cedure of  the  day,  it  was  necessary  to  turn  out  the  men  at 
7  o'clock  in  the  morning.  So  at  that  time  with  the  cus- 
tomary admonitions  to  "  bear  a  hand  "  and  "  shake  a  leg," 
the  Navy  police  got  the  crowd  awake  and  stirring.  Each 
man  was  required  to  fold  his  blankets  carefully,  put  them 
on  his  mattress  and  stow  the  bedding  in  regular  piles  in 
the  alcoves.  Then,  after  a  visit  to  the  washroom,  where 
the  Ked  Cross  had  provided  an  abundance  of  towels,  soap 
and  hairbrushes,  the  hungry  crew  trooped  into  the  canteen 
for  breakfast.  Meanwhile  a  squad  had  been  set  to  work 
sweeping  the  Hall,  the  flags  were  taken  down  and  put 
away  and,  in  due  time,  the  canteen  equipment  itself  fol- 
lowed, being  loaded  in  trucks  and  returned  to  headquarters. 
And  by  half-past  eight  o'clock  the  Great  Hall  had  been 
so  well  restored  to  its  normal  state  that  even  the  crustiest, 
most  suspicious  of  snuffy  old  barristers  would  never  have 
known  that  it  had  been  used  as  a  "  bedroom  ?  for  1,200 
American  sailors. 

At  the  time  that  these  men  from  the  Grand  Fleet  visited 
London,  liberty  parties  from  American  destroyers,  chasers, 
mine  layers  and  sweepers,  dispatch  and  supply  boats  on 
duty  along  the  coasts  were  still  coming  to  the  city. 
Nightly  possession  of  the  Royal  Courts  was  a  great  aid  in 
solving  the  problem  of  providing  quarters  for  them.  And 
again  it  was  by  resort  to  the  potent  bus-method.  Two  of 
these  heavy  passenger  "  Ships  of  the  Streets  7  were  chart- 
ered by  the  Red  Cross,  tricked  out  with  big  side  banners 
bearing  the  world-known  emblem  and  canvas  signs  pro- 
claiming, as  before: 

U.  S.  NAVY 
SLEEPING 
QUARTERS 


A  ROYAL  "BERTH-DECK"  263 

and  these  fastened  high  upon  the  superstructures  so  that 
any  one  might  read  without  running.  The  busses  were  to 
serve  a  double  purpose,  gathering  up  also  any  of  the  Law 
Courts'  guests  who  had  lost  their  way  or  their  billet  cards 
or  both. 

The  vehicles  went  into  commission  on  the  second  night 
at  9  o'clock,  each  of  them  manned  by  two  members  of  the 
fatigueless  "  Flying  Squadron  "  of  the  Emergency  Bureau. 
The  only  sailing  directions  they  gave  the  drivers  were 
to  cruise  up  and  down  the  Strand  and  the  main  streets 
leading  from  Trafalgar  Square  and  to  stop  whenever  the 
bell  rang.  The  emergency  men  required  no  other  instruc- 
tions than  to  pick  up  any  American  sailor  who  wanted 
supper,  a  warm  bed,  and  breakfast  and  take  him.  to  the 
Law  Courts.  For  seven  hours,  from  nine  o'clock  until 
four  in  the  morning,  they  cruised  the  streets  in  their  rock- 
ing craft  and,  as  a  result,  gathered  in  at  least  a  hundred 
men  that  night  and,  in  fact,  every  other  night  that  the 
service  was  maintained.  All  that  this  added  number  of 
men  necessitated  was  an  increased  supply  of  mattresses  and 
blankets  which  were  readily  forthcoming  from  the  Red 
Cross  warehouse,  and  more  food  supplies,  as  promptly  ob- 
tainable. 

The  popularity  of  the  Law  Courts  as  a  billet  was  mani- 
fest from  the  very  beginning  and,  far  from  being  like  cats 
in  a  strange  garret,  the  men  made  the  stately  enclosure 
echo  with  songs.  Every  night  the  arches  rang  with  "  The 
Long,  Long  Trail,"  "  Keep  the  Home  Fires  Burning,"  and 
'  Over  There ! '  It  became  veritably  a  sailor's  club  and, 
that  the  men  might  have  an  appropriate  souvenir  of  it,  the 
Red  Cross  provided  them  with  post  cards  showing  the  in- 
terior of  the  Great  Hall,  which  were  mailed  to  the  States 
in  thousands  with  many  such  jocular  comments  penned 
upon  them  as,  "  How's  this  for  a  shake  down  ?  '  "  This 
was  my  little  shanty  for  two  weeks,"  "  I've  put  a  cross 
where  I  slept  last  night.  I'll  bet  you  don't  have  a  room 
like  this  for  me  when  I  get  home." 


264  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

One  of  the  gala  nights  in  the  Hall  was,  of  course,  that 
of  the  dance  to  the  startling  syncopations  of  the  Naval 
"  Jazz  Band."  It  was  play,  so  far  as  the  sailors  were  con- 
cerned, but  it  meant  unceasing  work  to  the  young  women 
of  the  canteen,  for  they  were  eight  among  eight  hundred 
and  every  mother's  son  of  the  eight  hundred  bent  upon 
dancing.  The  rush  for  these  young  women  following  the 
opening  bars  of  the  waltzes  and  one-steps,  the  energetic 
"  cutting  in  r  which  limited  a  bluejacket  to  scarcely  more 
than  half  a  dozen  steps  with  his  partner  and  the  hey  !-port- 
your-helm-bump-crash  dancing  of  the  men  with  their  own 
shipmates  made  for  a  merry  confusion  such  as  those  gray 
walls  will  never  see  again. 

Another  gala  night  came  when  Admiral  Sims,  Senior 
Officer  of  the  American  Naval  Forces,  and  several 
members  of  his  staff  visited  the  Hall.  The  assembled  blue- 
jackets gave  him  a  cheer  that  set  the  flags  a-flutter.  He 
was  frankly  surprised  at  the  completeness  of  the  com- 
fort which  had  been  provided  for  the  men  and  the  care 
bestowed  upon  giving  them  supper  and  breakfast.  And 
as  his  eyes  ranged  down  the  great  chamber,  far  above 
the  heads  of  the  men,  to  the  pillared  doorways,  the  churchly 
windows  and  the  sweep  of  the  massive  walls,  he  smiled, 
as  if  at  some  flashing  thought.  Few  are  permitted  to  ask 
a  Senior  Officer  what  he  is  thinking,  but  it  is  fair  to  hazard 
a  guess  that  he  was  saying  to  himself,  "  What  an  amazing 
berth-deck ! " 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE    CLUBMEN    OF    MORN    HILL, 

"  And  we're  go-ing  back 

"  'Cause  it's  over  over  here ! ' 

THE  paraphrased  song  ended  with  a  mighty  thump  of 
a  chord,  two  whole  handfuls  of  keys,  and  the  soldier 
in  the  British  uniform  swung  himself  around  on  the  piano 
stool  for  two  revolutions  by  way  of  joyous  emphasis. 

While  he  was  still  spinning,  even  before  the  thunder  had 
died  in  the  recesses  of  the  piano,  another  soldier,  at  the 
far  end  of  the  long  room,  with  a  brass  Welsh  leek  on 
his  cap,  apparently  deep  in  a  newspaper,  was  stirred  as  by 
harmonic  vibration.  Without  lifting  his  eyes  from  the 
page  he  voiced  his  reply: 

"  Yea,  Bo !  " 

It  was  only  one  voice  but  it  had  the  volume  and  the 
sincerity  of  a  choral  amen.  It  spoke  of  everything  that 
had  been  in  his  breast,  in  the  breasts  of  all  of  them,  for 
days.  The  piano  player  and  the  others  laughed,  but  their 
hearts  responded  with  a  leaping  eagerness  that  went  thrill- 
ing all  through  them.  And  there  was  not  one  whose  mind 
did  not  spring  from  the  confines  of  that  room,  speed  across 
England  and  the  wide  Atlantic  and  alight  in  some 
cherished  place  in  America.  For  it  was  over,  over  here 
and  they  were  just  awaiting  the  word  which  would  re- 
lease them  to  follow  that  flight  to  the  place  which  each 
called  "  home."  It  made  no  difference  whatever  that  these 
men  wore  the  King's  uniform,  all  their  thoughts  were 
turned  toward  America,  because  they  were  Americans  and, 

furthermore,   they  were  on   an   American  Island  in  the 

265 


266  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

midst  of  an  English  Sea.  The  flag  of  their  own  country 
was  flying  by  the  doorway,  the  American  Red  Cross 
banner  beside  it  and  they  were  in  their  own  United  States 
—  almost. 

Their  long,  low  building  lay  at  the  edge  of  a  dusty  road 
which  dropped  away  to  the  distant  level  where,  in  the 
warm  sunshine,  Winchester  drowsed  about  its  gray  Cathe- 
dral towers.  All  around  it  were  gathered  the  flat,  unin- 
spiring buildings  of  a  great  camp ;  they  flanked  the  yellow 
highway  and  rose  across  the  hills  in  ugly,  orderly  rows. 
But  it  was  of  two-fold  interest  to  Americans,  this  roll- 
ing, treeless  countryside,  for  it  was  Morn  Hill  Rest  Camp, 
the  first  mobilization  point  for  the  United  States  troops 
as  they  landed  from  the  fleet  of  transports  which  had  hur- 
ried them  into  action  two  years  before.  Here  in  their 
thousands  they  had  halted  for  a  few  days  of  rest  in  the 
journey  across  England  to  the  coast  where  troopships  were 
waiting  to  bear  them  to  Erance.  And  here,  too,  when 
this  was  written,  in  June,  1919,  was  the  great  demobiliza- 
tion center  for  the  legion  of  Americans  who  had  enlisted 
in  the  armies  of  Great  Britain,  had  honorably  completed 
their  service  and  were  entitled  to  be  sent  back  across  the 
sea. 

The  choice  of  Morn  Hill  as  a  military  clearing-house 
of  this  kind  was  a  happy  one.  It  served  to  give  Win- 
chester still  another  association  with  Americans,  such  co- 
horts of  whom  it  had  seen  in  the  days  when  this  was  an 

t/ 

American  camp.  Indeed,  Winchester  had  already  made 
preparation  for  a  lasting  memorial  to  the  arms  of  her 
Western  ally,  for  in  the  venerable  Cathedral,  on  an  aisle 
set  apart  to  proclaim  and  commemorate  the  losses  suffered 
by  British  regiments  in  many  wars,  the  Dean  and  Chapter 
had  reserved  a  window  and  the  deep  panels  beneath  it 
"  Eor  the  Dedication  of  a  Perpetual  Memorial  to  be 
Erected  by  the  British  Nation  to  Those  Gallant  Americans 
Who  Have  Given  Their  Lives  for  the  Cause  of  Freedom 
in  the  Great  War." 


THE  CLUBMEN  OF  MORN  HILL  267 

At  the  sweeping  outbreak  of  hostilities  in  Europe  in 
1914,  varying  emotions  of  sentiment,  sympathy  and  ad- 
venture had  impelled  great  numbers  of  Americans  -  -  their 
own  country  seemingly  disposed  to  remain  neutral  -  —  to 
seek  service  against  the  German.  Some  hastened  across 
the  northern  boundary  and  enlisted  in  Canadian  con- 
tingents, others  went  to  England  and  joined  the  ranks  of 
famous  British  regiments.  It  was  supposed  that  by  the 
time  the  United  States  entered  the  general  conflict  at  least 
20,000  Americans  had  taken  the  King's  Shilling.  But 
when  the  repatriation  bureau  was  opened  at  Morn  Hill  in 
the  spring  of  1919  and  men  began  to  come  forward  to  claim 
discharge  and  passage  back  to  the  States  the  mounting 
figures  led  to  a  reasonable  estimate  that,  with  all  casual- 
ties included,  the  number  of  Americans  who  served  under 
British  colors  was  about  one  hundred  thousand. 

These  were  the  men  who  were  now  gathered  at  Morn 
Hill  from  every  part  of  the  world  to  which  the  Great  War 
had  summoned  British  fighting  men  -  France,  Belgium, 
Italy,  Palestine,  Salonica,  Turkey,  Macedonia,  Russia, 
Singapore,  German  South-west  Airica,  these  and  many 
others  throughout  the  Eastern  Hemisphere  -  -  to  be  held 
under  indulgent  discipline  until  ships  could  be  found  to 
take  them  home.  For  all  Americans  who  served  under 
the  Union  Jack,  wherever  it  may  have  flown,  with  the 
exception  of  those  who  elected  to  return  to  Canada  with 
the  units  in  which  they  had  enlisted,  were  required  to  pass 
through  this  camp  for  inspection,  interrogation,  and  dis- 
charge. They  had  to  produce  their  papers  and  clearly 
substantiate  their  claim  to  discharge  and  transportation 
home.  Frequently  this  was  no  easy  matter.  A  man 
might  have  enlisted  in  Canada,  fought  on  two  or  three 
fronts  and  served  in  several  different  units  in  widely 
separated  parts  of  the  fighting  world.  In  such  case  his 
entire  record  had  to  be  collected  from  regimental  archives 
and  tabulated  before  he  could  even  begin  to  see  a  sailing 
date  on  the  far  horizon. 


268  THE  PASSING  LEQIONS 

This  process  was  necessarily  circumscribed  by  official 
regulation  and  for  that  reason  often  long  and  always 
wearying  to  the  men.  The  war,  with  its  adventurings,  its 
hazards,  its  exhilaration  even  to  those  whose  services  lay 
miles  back  of  the  lines,  was  at  an  end ;  the  men  had  little 
to  do  now  save  long  for  the  home-faring  day. 

Like  a  god-send  the  American  Red  Cross  came  to  them. 

The  British  military  authorities  had  done  everything 
within  power  and  regulation  to  make  them  comfortable, 
but  they  missed  America  and  American  things  and  Ameri- 
can voices,  from  which  they  had  so  long  been  cut  off. 
Through  four  and  a  half  years  many  of  them  had  fought 
side  by  side  with  the  men  of  another  race,  they  had  ap- 
propriated the  stranger  slang  and  habits,  they  were,  to  all 
appearances,  British  Tommies,  but  under  the  tunics  were 
hearts  that  yearned  for  homes  very  far  from  the  dusty 
Winchester  downs.  They  were  lonesome.  There  was  not 
even  the  comfort  of  being  with  their  own  old  regiments. 
The  men  they  had  met  in  the  comradeship  of  arms  were 
scattered  to  a  hundred  places.  Some  were  at  home,  others 
were  in  hospital,  many  were  in  their  graves.  ISTow  had 
they  come  among  chance  strangers  -  -  even  the  Americans 
were  strangers  —  to  wait  and  wait  and  wait.  They 
wanted  AMERICA  and  nothing  could  even  remotely 
assuage  the  longing  until  the  Ked  Cross  came  and  estab- 
lished the  club  for  them  —  the  long,  low  building  in  which 
the  piano  player  had  sung  his  song  and  called  forth  that 
heartfelt  amen. 

When  it  was  realized  that  the  official  procedure  involved 
in  the  discharge  of  the  American  volunteers  and  their  as- 
signment to  a  westbound  troopship  might  mean  detention 
at  Morn  Hill  for  a  month  or  more,  the  Red  Cross  estab- 
lished a  combined  club  and  canteen.  This  would  suffice 
for  the  needs  of  those  lucky  enough  to  be  quickly  away, 
for  the  others  who  might,  days  on  end,  await  release,  and 
be  ready  also,  even  with  a  bit  of  tradition  behind  it,  when 


THE  CLUBMEN  OF  MORN  HILL  260 

the  Americans  should  drift  in  from  the  distant  British 
units  in  India,  Egypt  and  Mesopotamia. 

The  building  granted  for  the  purpose  by  General  Mc- 
Pherson,  the  "  C.  O.,"  was  one  which  had  been  used  hither- 
to as  a  storehouse  for  Red  Cross  reserve  medical  supplies. 
It  was  near  the  center  of  the  encampment,  a  structure  one 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  Ions;  and  fiftv  feet  wide  and  bevond 

€/  O  t/  «/ 

being  weather-proof,  was  nothing  more  than  four  walls  and 
a  roof  when  it  came  a  second  time  into  Red  Cross  hands. 
And  then,  one  rare  spring  day,  Miss  Lilian  Baldwin,  of 
Lakewood,  N.  J.,  who  for  many  months  had  directed  Red 
Cross  canteen  work  at  the  American  Base  Hospital  at  Dart- 
ford,  arrived  at  Morn  Hill  to  start  —  literally,  to  create  - 
the  club. 

Whether  she  had  or  had  not  reckoned  upon  the  Ameri- 
cans in  the  camp  to  aid  her,  they  turned  out  by  hundreds 
to  lend  a  hand  the  day  she  appeared.  They  were  so  eager 
to  help  and  there  were  so  many  of  them  demanding  jobs 
that  Miss  Baldwin  had  to  divide  them  into  squads  and  dele- 
gate special  tasks  to  each  in  order  that  they  might  not  be 
forever  tumbling  over  one  another.  One  detachment  laid 
thick  linoleum,  another  hung  curtains,  a  third  hammered 
bookshelves  together,  and  a  fourth  strung  lines  of  allied 
flags  along  the  rafters.  Easy  chairs,  tables  and  writing- 
desks,  a  pianola,  two  pianos  and  a  victrola  were  moved 
in,  the  "  Buckshee '  counter  —  the  center  of  that  little 
universe  —  was  set  up,  a  small  kitchen  was  built  *  out 
back  " —  and  the  empty,  resounding  storehouse  had  become 
an  American  club !  Then  came  the  flag-raising  on  the 
inaugural  day,  with  the  "  C.  O."  and  his  staff  attending 
and  the  roars  of  cheers  from  eight  hundred  enthusiastic 
Americans. 

That  was  a  day! 

It  is  not  possible  to  set  down  here  the  "  heart '  that 
spoke  in  what  the  American  Tommies  said  that  day  as  they 
hailed  the  opening  of  their  club.  It  was  bluff  to  the  point 


270  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

of  obviously  hiding  a  swift  and  deep  emotion,  it  was  care- 
less and  jocular,  although  one  knew  by  the  timbre  of  the 
laugh  that  it  came  from  a  lump  in  the  throat  —  and  it  was 
sometimes  frank  to  the  point  of  sudden  speechlessness. 
An  indescribable  mixture  of  the  slang  of  two  peoples  ac- 
claimed the  U.  S.  A.,  the  Red  Cross,  Miss  Baldwin,  the 
coffee  and  pie,  the  cigarettes  and  tobacco,  the  rocking- 
chairs,  the  two-weeks-old  newspapers,  everything  that  the 
club  offered  to  those  men,  starving  for  the  home  things. 
They  danced  around,  banging  one  another  on  the  back,  and 
probably  would  have  hugged  Miss  Baldwin  to  breathless- 
ness  had  they  dared. 

A  membership  roster  was  begun  that  day  —  the  sole 
requirement  being  American  nationality  —  and  the  reg- 
istration showed  that  the  Americans  then  in  camp  who 
had  served  with  the  British  forces  had  come  from  thirty- 
one  different  States,  from  the  District  of  Columbia,  from 
Alaska,  even  from  Hawaii,  half-way  round  the  world. 
They  had  belonged  to  some  of  the  most  distinguished  regi- 
ments of  the  British  Army,  the  Royal  Horse  Guards,  the 
Grenadiers,  the  Dragoons,  the  Welsh  Guards,  the  Cold- 
streams,  the  Cameron  Highlanders,  the  Lancers,  the 
"  Death  or  Glory  Boys,"  the  Princess  Pat's,  the  Prince  of 
Wales7  Fusiliers.  There  were  scores  of  sleeves  there  bear- 
ing the  red  chevron  of  1914. 

But,  come  into  the  club,  see  the  men  and  talk  with  them 
and  learn  for  yourself  what  a  haven  it  is. 

There  is  a  youngster  at  the  piano,  of  course  —  there 
always  is,  because  in  homesickness  and  in  health,  in  sor- 
row and  in  anger,  sometimes  in  sheer  cruelty,  the  male 
human,  in  gatherings  of  his  kind,  invariably  exerts  himself 
upon  the  most  convenient  musical  instrument.  Three 
others  are  beside  him,  two  of  them  singing  at  the  top  of 
voice  and  ability,  the  third  rummaging  through  a  pile  of 
music  for  a  favorite  song.  The  sound  wings  out  through 
the  doorway  as  if  to  call  the  men  from  the  barracks.  They 


THE  CLUBMEN  OF  MORN  HILL  271 

come  over  the  hills,  along  the  dusty  road,  calling  greetings, 
running  a  few  steps  to  catch  up  with  a  little  party  ahead. 
Tanned  almost  to  the  color  of  their  war-worn  uniforms, 
wearing  the  glittering  brass  badges  of  well-known  regi- 
ments, they  are  not  in  any  way  distinguishable  from  the 
Britons  with  whom  they  now  share  the  camp  above  Win- 
chester. A  few  yards  beyond  the  narrow  wooden  walk 
which  leads  across  the  uneven  ground  between  roadside 
and  doorway,  a  gang  of  German  prisoners  is  carrying  steel 
rails  to  the  head  of  a  new  spur  track.  One  of  the  Ameri- 
cans, his  foot  on  the  threshold,  calls  out  an  impersonal 
offer: 

"  Hey,  Fritz,  I'll  give  you  a  piece  of  pie  for  that  rail !  : 

The  prisoners  look  around  with  a  grin  as  they  disap- 
pear past  a  corner  of  the  building. 

With  a  clatter  of  heavy,  hobbed  boots  the  men  file 
through  the  narrow  roadway,  each  displaying  his  club 
membership  card  to  the  corporal  at  the  little  desk  by  the 
entrance.  Some  of  the  newcomers  have  British  Tommies 
in  tow;  for  each  of  the  Americans  is  permitted  one  daily 
guest  from  the  camp  and  is  proud  of  the  privilege.  Scat- 
tered about  the  big  room  are  a  hundred  or  more  of  their 
fellows,  playing  checkers  or  chess,  reading,  writing  letters 
or  drowsing  in  the  enfolding  arms  of  deep  chairs,  reveling 
in  the  relaxation  of  unbuttoned  tunics  and  an  unsoldierly, 
star-fish  sprawl. 

Now  Miss  Baldwin  takes  you  under  her  wing  and 
sketches  her  club  members  for  you.  The  two  boys,  one 
with  a  violin  under  his  arm,  who  have  just  been  urged 
up  to  the  piano,  used  to  be  in  a  roof  garden  orchestra  in 
New  York.  On  their  caps  are  the  sacred  seven-branched 
candlesticks  of  the  Jewish  regiment  which,  under  British 
officers,  fought  in  Palestine  for  the  deliverance  of  the  land 
of  their  forefathers.  Two  men  in  a  fairly  quiet  corner 
are  making  the  last  strategic  moves  in  a  game  of  checkers, 
an  interested  audience  in  stockade  around  them.  The 
elder  player,  the  club  champion,  is  a  Scotch- American  who 


272  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

had  been  a  track-walker  on  one  of  the  Southern  railway 
lines  before  joining  an  artillery  brigade  in  1915.  His 
brother,  who  enlisted  with  him,  had  been  gassed  and  was 
buried  in  Belgium.  H'is  opponent  across  the  board,  with 
the  engineer's  device  and  the  sergeant's  chevrons,  is  a 
sturdy  son  of  Wisconsin.  The  red  chevron  he  wears  is 
the  treasured  symbol  of  1914  but  not,  in  his  case,  for  serv- 
ice either  in  France  or  Belgium  in  that  memorable  year. 
It  stands  for  the  campaign  "  down  German  West,"  as 
South  Africans  abbreviate  it.  This  was  the  one  in  which 
German  South  West  Africa  was  completely  conquered. 
Over  an  area  nearly  twice  as  great  as  that  of  European 
Germany  the  British  forces  and  the  Boers  fought  shoulder 
to  shoulder,  sharing  the  privations  and  vicissitudes  of  war- 
fare almost  primitive  in  its  tactics,  long  intervals  of 
"  trekking ?  following  the  engagements  and  blackwater 
fever  more  certain  of  victims  than  bullets.  In  the  enclos- 
ing group  a  red-haired  youth  in  the  first  of  his  twen- 
ties —  the  one  with  the  cap  set  rakishly  over  an  ear  —  has 
been  in  the  Army  Service  Corps  and  done  his  bit  from 
helping  the  stevedores  on  the  wharves  of  Salonica  to  carry- 
ing up  supplies  through  the  mountain  passes  of  Macedonia. 
The  man  with  the  "  Royal  Air  Force  '  arched  across  his 
shoulder  seam,  writing  post  cards  at  the  desk  by  the 
window,  is  from  Tennessee,  an  expert  motor  mechanic 
whose  father  owns  a  garage;  the  elated  one  who  has  just 
this  moment  won  $260  from  himself  at  "  Canfield,"  is  a 
Texan,  a  horse-artilleryman  who  was  with  the  guns  at 
Ypres  —  see  the  red  chevron  ?  —  and  the  fellow  lounging 
in,  who  has  a  broad  scar  across  his  cheek,  is  a  Californian, 
prouder  of  Los  Angeles  than  of  the  scar  and  the  service 
stripes.  He  was  with  the  Canadians  at  Cambrai. 

And  so  it  goes  from  man  to  man,  every  branch  of  the 
British  service  represented  by  these  American  volunteers, 
They  had  sweated  at  the  docks  of  half  a  dozen  countries 
to  keep  the  war  gear  flowing  to  the  front ;  they  had  handled 
munitions  on  the  mysterious  train-ferry  between  Eng- 


THE  CLUBMEN  OF  MORN  HILL  273 

land  and  France  -  -  one  of  the  few  secrets  of  the  war  which 
remained  a  secret  until  the  Armistice  was  concluded  - 
they  had  crouched,  too,  on  the  fire-step,  awaiting  the  "  zero 
hour  '  to  go  over  the  top  -  -  and  they  had  gone  so  often,  a 
few  of  them,  that  they  risked  belief  in  telling  of  it.  There 
had  been  no  fighting  in  any  part  of  the  world  during  the 
last  five  years,  from  the  Singapore  mutiny  to  the  Egyptian 
trouble,  from  the  conquest  of  the  German  islands  in  the 
South  Pacific  to  the  turmoil  in  the  six-months'  night  of  the 
Murmansk  winter,  in  which  one  or  another  of  the  men 
who  were  drifting  into  this  Red  Cross  club  had  not  taken 
part.  And  every  last  one  of  them  was  an  American ! 

Suddenly,  from  a  distance  not  too  great  to  mar  either 
distinctness  or  meaning,  come  the  sounds  of  pouring  water, 
of  a  tin  cup  clanking  against  another,  of  dishes  being 
moved  about.  And  then,  in  just  a  little  while,  the  in- 
sinuating odor  of  coffee ! 

The  men  look  up  and  sniff,  with  much  wrinkling  of 
noses.  Were  it  not  for  possible  misconstruction  derogatory 
to  Miss  Baldwin's  brew,  it  might  be  said  that  most  of  the 
club  members  look  as  if  they  expected  a  gas  alarm.  But 
the  smile  that  comes  not  later  than  the  second  sniff  dis- 
pels this  uncharitable  similitude  and  hopeful  eyes  turn 
toward  the  "  Buckshee '  counter.  Miss  Baldwin,  ener- 
gized, apparently,  by  the  same  sounds  and  odor,  runs  off 
with  an  I'11-be-back-in-a-minute  wave  of  the  hand  to  dis- 
appear into  the  kitchen.  This  seems  to  be  a  generally  ac- 
cepted signal,  for  instantly  most  of  the  men  in  the  room 
put  aside  their  games  and  diversions  and  advance  in  mass 
attack  upon  the  counter. 

Now  u  Buckshee  "  means  "  free  "—  -  one  of  the  clubmen 
(quite  a  metropolitan  sound,  that!)  credited  it  to  New 
Zealand,  another  to  Australia,  a  third  said  he  had  picked 
it  up  in  Egypt,  so  there's  a  choice  of  sponsors  -  -  and  at  this 
counter  along  the  wall  opposite  the  entrance  doorway  the 
men  receive  twice  daily  all  they  wish  of  coffee,  its  team- 
mate the  doughnut  and  pie  (on  special  days)  and  sand- 


274  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

wiches.     At  one  end  of  it  is  a  deep  canister  of  tobacco 
bearing    tbe    admonitory    legend :     "  DON'T    FILL    YOUR 

POCKET FILL    YOUR    PIPE    OR    ROLL    A    CIGARE1TTE,"    and 

flanked  by  a  box  of  cigarette  papers. 

The  mass  attack,  as  it  goes  forward,  resolves  itself  into 
a  shuffling  line  with  an  occasional  rough,  good-natured 
contest  for  priority.  It  is  one  of  Miss  Baldwin's  regula- 
tions that  the  men  must  come  up  to  the  counter  in  single 
file  and  behave  themselves,  or  seem  to.  Impatience  always 
bends  the  line  into  a  sharp  curve  as  it  stretches  down  the 
room  and  likewise  flings  more  than  one  pointed  suggestion 
to  the  loiterer  at  the  head  for  the  love  o'  some  deity  to 
get  his  chow  and  move  on. 

As  soon  as  a  man  is  served  he  balances  his  cup  and 
plate  into  a  convenient  corner  and  gives  himself  up  to  a 
blissful  content  —  knowing  that  he  can  go  back  for  more 
till  contents  spells  content.  And  between  either  bite  or 
sup  he  will  tell  you  how  much  his  club  means  to  him. 

"  It's  hearing  American  spoken  that  gets  closest  to  me," 
one  of  them  explained,  adding  in  the  same  breath,  "  but 
that's  not  saying  a  word  against  this  coffee  and  doughnuts 
and  the  real  American  cigarettes  Miss  Baldwin  gives  us. 
I'm  from  Seattle  —  that's  the  place  !  —  and  I've  been  sort 
of  everything  in  this  man's  army  —  infantry,  artillery, 
tanks  —  nearly  three  years  of  it,  and  up  to  two  weeks  ago 
I  thought  I'd  have  to  wait  six  months  before  I  could  see 
anything  that  looked  anyways  like  home.  But  me  and  the 
other  boys  stepped  right  into  the  old  U.  S.  A.  the  day  the 
flags  went  up  over  this  building.  And,  believe  me,  I've 
been  nearer  home  in  this  shack  than  I  was  in  the  barracks 
at  Halifax.  Why  ?  'Cause  I've  written  more  letters 
home  in  the  last  two  weeks  at  that  old  desk  down  there  than 
I  ever  did  in  all  my  life.  Miss  Baldwin  came  up  to  me 
the  first  day  I  dropped  in  and  said,  i  Why  don't  you  write 
the  folks  and  tell  'em  about  the  club  and  the  coffee  and 
things  ? '  She  gave  me  some  paper  and  envelopes  and  a 
stamp,  and  just  so's  not  to  disappoint  her  I  wrote  to  my 


THE  CLUBMEN  OF  MORN  HILL  275 

mother.  She'll  think  I've  gone  bugs  to  send  her  eight 
pages  when  she  said  she'd  be  happy  if  she  only  got  a  postal 
card  every  week.  After  that  I  sort  o'  got  the  habit,  'cause 
next  day  Miss  Baldwin  gave  me  an  American  magazine 
and  a  Coast  newspaper  and  I  had  to  tell  the  Missus  all 
about  that,  too.  I  know  they'll  think  I'm  looney  at  home, 
but  I  haven't  had  anything  like  this  for  nearly  three  years 
and,  well,  I  guess  I  must  have  gone  dippy  over  it,  all 
right." 

An  elder  man,  grizzled  and  lined,  with  A.  S.  C.  on  his 
shoulder  straps,  puts  down  his  cup,  loosens  his  belt  and 
develops  a  slow  smile. 

"  What  do  I  think  of  the  club  ?  Better  you  should  ask 
me  what  I  KNOW,  for  it's  then  I  can  sing  to  you.  But 
wouldn't  you  rather  know  first  that  I'm  fifty-six  years  old,, 
so  it's  no  giddy  boy  telling  you  a  tale  ?  And  of  course  you 
never  guessed  I  was  Irish  -  -  no,  you  thought  the  brogue 
was  Persian,  now  didn't  you  ? } 

This  brings  a  laugh  from  the  little  circle  of  listeners 
and  the  Irishman  himself  pauses  to  smile  again,  his  head 
cocked  aside  like  a  robin's. 

"  But  let's  be  getting  on,"  he  says,  "  I'm  from  South 
Boston  —  County  South,  I  call  it  -  -  and  yet  for  all  that 
they'd  not  let  me  get  up  to  the  scrapping.  I  guess  they 
thought  I  was  too  old.  They  put  nie  in  the  Army  Serv- 
ice Corps  and  the  first  work  I  had  was  bringing  copper 
shell  bands  across  from  Pittsburgh.  It  didn't  seem  like 
battle  to  me,  but  it  didn't  do  much  to  help  the  German 
cause.  And  then  I  had  two  years  of  it  in  Belgium  and 
France.  It  wasn't  so  bad  at  first,  but  after  a  while  the 
lonesome  sickness  took  hold  of  me  and  I'd  'a'  given  half 
my  right  eye  for  a  sight  of  the  old  lady  and  the  children, 
or  even  Bunker  Hill  Monument.  Maybe  I  got  old  all  of 
a  sudden,  I  dunno.  However,  they  ordered  me  down  here 
and  it  sort  o'  eased  my  mind.  Yes,  till  I'd  been  here  a 
month,  hanging  about,  nothing  to  do  but  wait.  I'd  have 
rowed  home  if  they'd  let  me.  I  would  that! 


276  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

"  And  then  one  day  what  happens  ?  The  Red  Cross 
brings  a  little  slice  of  America  out  here  and  spreads  it  sort 
o'  thin  so's  to  cover  a  lot  of  space,  and  hoists  the  flags  to 
show  it's  America,  and  here  it  is,  just  where  you're  stand- 
ing. It's  home  to  me,  more,  I  guess,  than  it  is  to  any  of 
these  laddies  here.  They've  had  the  exciting  things  to  keep 
'em  going  —  adventures,  they  call  'em  —  but  I've  had  none 
o'  that ;  I've  never  even  heard  the  guns  but  twice.  It's 
been  hard  work  all  the  time  and  I'm  tired  and  —  a  man 
thinks  more  of  home  when  he's  fifty-six  and  has  a  good  one 
waiting  for  him.  This  is  the  nearest  thing  to  it  that  I've 
had  since  I  joined  up,  because  my  detachment  never  ran 
into  the  American  Red  Cross  while  we  were  in  service. 
I  guess  we  were  in  too  out-of-the-way  places.  Until  I 
came  in  here  I  hadn't  seen  an  American  woman  or  heard 
one  of  'em  talk  for  two  years.  I  didn't  care  then  where 
I  sat  down,  'cause  all  the  places  looked  strange  to  me.  But 
in  here  I'm  more  than  halfway  home,  and  if  they  don't 
find  a  steamer  for  me  this  week,  why  I'll  come  here  and 
talk  about  South  Boston  to  Miss  Baldwin  and  let  it  go  at 
that !  And  now  I've  talked  myself  dry  and  I'll  go  get  my- 
self another  cup  o'  coffee." 

What  any  of  the  other  men  have  to  say  is  little  more 
than  a  variant  of  this.  Services  differed,  as  did  experi- 
ences, but  every  man  agrees,  each  in  his  own  phrasing, 
that  this  Red  Cross  club  is  "  the  nearest  thing  to  home ' 
he  has  found  in  the  Old  World.  It  provides,  as  you  see, 
a  place  in  which  he  can  find  rest,  recreation  and  companion- 
ship of  his  own  people,  his  familiar  newspaper,  a  bit  old, 
perhaps,  but  welcome,  whatever  the  date,  and  happier  sur- 
roundings in  which  to  discuss  the  one,  heart-filling  topic  — 
the  chance  of  having  his  demobilization  papers  signed  in 
time  for  the  next  ship  home. 

Now  that  you  have  met  Miss  Baldwin,  the  moment  has 
come  to  disclose  a  remarkable  feature  of  the  club.  It  is 
that  under  the  Red  Cross,  Miss  Baldwin  founded  it  alone 
and  conducted  it  alone  to  its  closing  day,  with  a  staff  of 


THE  CLUBMEN  OF  MORN  HILL  277 


ten  or  a  dozen  "  orderlies,"  assigned  to  the  duty  by  the 
"  C.  O.,"  as  her  only  aids.  She  was,  from  the  beginning, 
the  only  woman  about  the  place,  the  only  "  officer,"  the 
sole  u  Big  Sister  '  to  the  thousands  of  Americans  passing 
through  the  camp  on  their  eager  homeward  way. 

Realizing  her  task,  she  sought  in  innumerable  ways  to 
interest  her  clubmen,  to  keep  them  not  only  off  the  Win- 
chester streets  and  in  the  club,  but  from  eating  their  hearts 
out  in  longing  for  release.  She  arranged  special  evenings 
for  the  men  of  certain  States  in  order  to  bring  these 
kindred  souls  together.  She  interrogated  the  entire  mem- 
bership roster  to  discover  musicians  and  had  them  give 
concerts.  She  decreed  "  honey  days,"  "  jam  days,"  "  pie 
days  "  that  she  might  win  their  affection  by  the  proverbial 
route.  And  every  venture  was  a  success.  The  time  came 
when  the  men  so  filled  the  place  with  music  or  clamorings 
for  honey  and  pie  that  the  more  nervous  letter-writers  gave 
up  in  despair. 

"  Are  they  not  a  wonderful  lot  of  boys  ?  "  Miss  Baldwin 
asks  with  shining  eyes  as  she  comes  from  behind  the  "  buck- 
shee '  counter.  There  are  more  than  three  hundred  of 
her  clubmen  in  the  room,  half  of  them  eating,  the  others 
awaiting  turn  in  the  long  curving  line.  A  Highlander  has 
just  brought  in  a  second  hot  urn  of  coffee.  The  "  fatigue 
detail '  is  attending  to  the  service,  passing  out  the  filled 
enamel-ware  cups,  the  jam  sandwiches  and  the  cigarettes. 

"  I  consider  every  one  of  these  men  a  hero,"  she  adds, 
1  because  none  was  compelled,  either  by  patriotism  or  the 
draft,  to  come  into  the  war.  These  men  chose  to  come, 
they  volunteered.  While  scores  joined  up  with  the  British 
long  before  America  entered  the  conflict,  many  had  been 
rejected  by  our  own  recruiting  boards  as  unfit  for  military 
service.  If  you  look  about,  you'll  see  that  some  of  them 
are  thin  and  undersized,  some  wear  glasses,  others  have  fin- 
gers or  an  eye  missing  or  are  slightly  malformed  and  still 
others  are  far  past  military  age.  But  they  wanted  to  go  in, 
to  help  in  any  way  they  could.  Their  own  country,  with 


278  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

so  many  able-bodied  men  available,  had  no  use  for  them, 
so  they  went  to  the  nearest  British  recruiting  station  and 
offered  themselves.  Great  Britain  needed  every  man  she 
could  get,  so  she  took  them  eagerly,  listing  them  as  i  low 
category  7  men  for  service  at  the  rear.  They  were  destined 
to  plod  through  the  war,  not  to  catch  even  one  reflection  of 
its  brilliance,  and  they  knew  it.  But  they  went  in. 
That's  what  I  think  is  so  wonderful  in  them  and  what 
they've  done. 

"  No  one  who  has  not  lived  and  worked  among  them  can 
understand  what  this  club  means  to  them.  Whatever  their 
service,  they  have  been  among  a  stranger  people,  some  of 
them  in  detached  units  in  which  there  was  not  another 
American.  The  talk  of  home  they  heard  all  about  them 
was  of  alien  cities  and  countrysides,  of  places  they'd  never 
even  heard  of.  No  one  ever  spoke  of  America  and  no  one 
understood  or  cared  when  they  spoke  of  it. 

"  And  those  who  came  late  into  the  ranks  were  thrown 
all  at  once  among  the  veterans  of  three  years,  war-weary 
men  little  minded  to  give  thought  to  a  newcomer  or  seek 
or  value  his  friendship.  These  newcomers  had  no 
dramatic  personal  experiences  to  offer,  nothing  to  make 
themselves  interesting  enough  to  be  listened  to  when  the 
yarn-spinning  began.  But  they  served  well  for  all  that, 
their  hearts  far  sturdier  than  their  bodies. 

"  Now,  after  it  is  all  over,  they  have  come  here  and 
found  a  place  which  is  all  American,  where  they  hear  Eng- 
lish spoken  in  their  own  way  with  the  almost  forgotten 
slang,  where  they  find  an  American  woman  ready  to  listen 
to  outpouring  of  everything  that  has  been  so  long  locked  up 
in  their  breasts.  I've  seen  them  come  into  that  doorway 
and  stop,  agape,  scarcely  believing  they'd  found  this  Amer- 
ican island.  I  won't  say  that  I've  seen  tears  in  their  eyes 
because  —  well,  for  several  reasons.  But  I  know,  deep 
down  in  my  heart,  just  how  great  a  help  this  little  club  is  to 
these  boys  of  mine. 

"  And  I  am  the  only  one  who  truly  knows  what  a  happi- 


THE  CLUBMEN  OF  MORN  HILL  279 

ness  it  is  to  me  to  care  for  them.  When  they  tell  me  their 
troubles,  show  me  photographs  of  girls  '  back  home  '  and 
read  me  their  letters  from  oversea,  then  I  feel  that  I  must 
have  been  of  some  help  to  them.  Not  one  of  them  will 
ever  forget  this  Red  Cross  club  —  nor  shall  I." 

On  the  wall  back  of  the  "  buckshee  '  counter  hangs  a 
rough  wool  sweater,  the  pride  of  Miss  Baldwin's  life. 
Fastened  upon  it  in  such  numbers  that  it  looks  like  a  shirt 
of  mail,  are  the  metal  cap  and  collar  devices  of  most  of 
the  famous  regiments  of  the  British  Army,  all  affixed  there 
by  Americans  who  served  in  them.  There  are  more  than 
250  of  these  badges,  each  given  to  Miss  Baldwin  in  re- 
membrance bv  a  member  of  the  club.  And  here  and  there, 

t/ 

to  add  a  bit  of  color  to  the  thing,  a  man  has  pinned  either 
his  wound  stripe  or  the  ribbon  of  his  medal,  and  another 
has  stuck  in  a  button  or  two  from  a  German  uniform. 

There  is  a  vivid  chapter  of  the  Great  War  in  that  keep- 
sake sweater.  It  is  the  story  of  a  British  Foreign  Legion 
of  a  hundred  thousand  Crusaders. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

HEBE    AND    THEREIN    BEITAIN 

THE  historic  city  of  Cambridge  was  selected  as  a  center 
for  Red  Cross  work  among  two  score  or  more  small 
American  camps  in  east-central  England.  Hospital  serv^ 
ice  embraced  fifty-five  British  and  American  hospitals,  in- 
cluding six  at  Cambridge,  four  at  Norwich,  three  each  at 
Stamford  and  Wisbach  and  others  at  such  places  as  Dux- 
ford,  Feltwell  (not  a  bad  name  for  a  hospital  town),  Fowl- 
mere,  Harling  Road  and  Spittlegate.  In  eight  camps  Red 
Cross  infirmaries  were  established. 

From  Cambridge  the  distance  covered  by  the  Red  Cross 
headquarters  was  so  great  in  the  matter  of  attending  to  all 
the  outlying  points  that  the  officer  in  command  spent  most 
of  his  time  "  on  the  road."  The  camp  nearest  the  Cam- 
bridge office  was  eight  miles  away  and  the  most  remote  more 
than  seventy  miles,  but  every  camp  was  visited  at  least 
twice  a  month  and  every  large  hospital  weekly.  Prac- 
tically all  the  camps  in  this  area  were  British  to  which 
American  units  of  fifty  to  500  men  had  been  attached,  the 
total  number  of  Americans  in  the  district  being  about 
4,000. 

When  the  Red  Cross  representative  visited  one  of  these 
small  camps  he  first  obtained  from  the  commanding  officer 
a  list  of  the  needs  of  the  detachment  and  when  these  could 
not  be  immediately  supplied  from  the  loaded  lorry  which 
carried  him  about  the  countryside  like  a  peddler,  requisi- 
tions were  immediately  forwarded  to  Cambridge  and  the 
things  delivered  by  another  truck  while  he  kept  on  his 
round  of  visits.  Aside  from  the  usual  articles  of  comfort 
and  personal  use,  the  Red  Cross  furnished  the  camps  with 

280 


HERE  AND  THERE  IN  BRITAIN  281 

bathing  equipment,  barbering  outfits,  and  camp-hospital  re- 
quisites. At  one  station  where  100  men  were  billeted  in 
scattered  houses  over  a  wide  area,  each  man  had  to  bring 
his  mess  kit  to  the  central  hall  for  every  meal.  At  the  re- 
quest of  the  area  inspector  the  Red  Cross  provided  the  mess 
hall  with  all  necessary  equipment  so  that  the  men  were  no 
longer  required  to  lug  their  pots  and  pans  and  things  with 
them. 

Oxford  was  another  center  of  camp  activities,  less  im- 
portant than  Cambridge  but  covering  a  wide  area  which  in- 
cluded eight  American  camps  and  a  considerable  number  of 
British  hospitals  holding  American  soldiers.  A  canteen 
was  established  at  Oxford  for  men  from  all  the  camps  who 
usually  spent  their  "  days  off  ; '  in  the  delightful  university 
town,  and  this  canteen  was  in  operation  at  the  end  of  the 
year. 

Most  important  centers  of  hospital  service  in  this  area 
were  at  Bath,  Bristol,  Cheltenham  and  in  the  town  of  Ox- 
ford itself.  Red  Cross  infirmaries  were  set  up  in  five 
camps.  There  was  a  good  deal  of  variation  in  the  number 
of  Americans  in  the  camps  thereabout,  but  it  averaged 
1,400,  month  in,  month  out.  These  men  were  employed 
mainly  in  British  aerodromes  as  engineers  and  mechanics 
and  in  work  incident  to  the  repair  and  general  up-keep  of 
air-service  equipment.  They  were  in  charge  of  American 
officers  and  each  squadron  had  its  own  medical  man.  As 
an  example  of  the  service  performed  for  these  men,  the 
camp  at  Port  Meadow  was  a  so-called  "  temporary  camp  ' 
of  tents  and  was  without  adequate  infirmary  provision. 
The  British  quartermaster  supplied  a  large  marquee  tent 
and  this  was  furnished  by  the  Red  Cross  with  a  regulation 
six-bed  infirmary  equipment,  including  bath  tubs  and  water 
heaters,  and  the  medical  officer  received  a  fund  for  the 
special  requirements  of  patients,  fresh  eggs  and  milk  and 
the  like.  At  Rendcombe  the  camp  was  similarly  supplied 
and  as  soon  as  possible  infirmaries  were  provided  at  three 
other  camps.  They  were  of  highest  value  when  the  "  flu  ' 


282  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

hit  the  camps  and  spread  among  the  1,200  men  of  the  area. 
Fortunately  only  six  deaths  occurred. 

Storehouses  were  being  erected  for  the  American  Army 
at  Didcot  and  as  the  camp  was  on  damp  ground,  the  Red 
Cross  put  up  huts  for  the  workmen  and  furnished  them 
completely,  giving  thus  comfortable  accommodations  for 
250  men. 

In  addition  to  the  infirmary  features  of  Red  Cross  work, 
the  comfort  and  Avelfare  of  the  hale  and  hearty  men  were 
constantly  considered  and  considerable  quantities  of  cloth- 
ing, toilet  articles  and  reading  matter  were  distributed. 
When  the  sick  men  were  sent  to  British  hospitals,  the  Red 
Cross  followed  them  with  its  ministrations. 

During  the  autumn,  the  arrival  of  large  convoys  of 
wounded  Americans  from  the  Western  Front  at  these 
British  hospitals  in  the  Oxford  area  added  a  new  task  to 
the  duties  of  the  Red  Cross  men  stationed  there. 

The  Bristol  district  was  created  in  October  by  reason  of 
the  large  influx  of  American  patients  to  the  British  hospi- 
tals at  Bristol,  Bath,  Gloucester  and  Cheltenham,  these 
cities  being  comprised  in  the  British  hospital  region  known 
as  the  "  Second  Southern  General."  In  Bristol  alone  there 
were  five  main  hospitals  in  which  Americans  were  received 
and  in  the  whole  district  there  were  not  less  than  fifteen 
British  hospitals  which  suddenly  became  important  places 
for  Red  Cross  work.  There  was  also  a  certain  amount  of 
service  for  the  naval  vessels  coming  into  Bristol  and  Avon- 
mouth  and  for  casual  troops  travelling  across  England. 

At  the  time  the  American  Red  Cross  office  was  opened 
there  were  about  800  American  patients  in  the  British  hos- 
pitals of  the  district  and  this  number  so  rapidly  increased 
that  within  two  weeks  it  had  reached  more  than  1,200. 
The  influenza  epidemic  brought  a  heavy  task  with  it.  In  a 
single  arriving  convoy  of  300  wounded  there  were  seventy- 
five  "  flu  "  cases  for  which  the  Red  Cross  furnished  special 
foods  and  medicines.  It  was  planned  at  this  time  to  open 
a  special  Red  Cross  convalescent  hospital  but  the  situation 


HERE  AND  THERE  IN  BRITAIN  283 

moderated  so  soon  that  it  was  not  begun.  There  were  450 
American  patients  in  hospital  at  Thanksgiving  time  and 
convalescents  were  entertained  at  celebration  dinners  and 
those  unable  to  attend  were  supplied  with  boxes  filled  with 
such  things  as  the  doctors  permitted  them  to  have.  By  the 
end  of  the  year,  the  number  of  wounded  in  the  Bristol  dis- 
trict had  decreased  to  200,  practically  all  of  whom  were 
evacuated  a  short  time  afterward.  The  number  of  deaths 
was  only  six,  all  from  influenza. 

Still  another  center  of  camp  service  was  Lincoln,  in  cen- 
tral England,  from  which  the  Red  Cross  visited  a  dozen 
small  American  camps  and  five  British  hospitals.  Red 
Cross  camp  infirmaries  were  established  in  nine  camps,  in- 
cluding the  one  at  Killingholme,  the  largest  American  avia- 
tion camp  and  of  peculiar  significance  to  Americans.  It 
was  at  Immingham,  near  there,  that  the  Pilgrim  Fathers 
lived  and  the  church  in  which  they  offered  prayers  for 
safety  before  going  to  Plymouth  to  embark  for  Massachu- 
setts is  still  standing. 

The  total  number  of  American  soldiers  in  the  district 
was  about  6,000  as  it  comprised  so  large  a  territory  that  a 
Red  Cross  trip  of  inspection  "  around  the  loop  '  meant  a 
journey  of  320  miles.  The  supplies  furnished  were  of 
great  variety,  ranging  from  razor  blades  to  a  complete 
printing-press  outfit  sent  to  the  Killingholme  camp.  All 
Americans  in  hospital  were  visited  at  least  twice  a  week, 
the  Red  Cross  Divisional  Commander  taking  with  him  a 
great  load  of  supplies  and  materially  lightening  his  burden 
at  every  stopping  place. 

Early  in  October  the  influenza  reached  the  Lincoln  area 
and  at  one  time  there  were  twenty-seven  American  cases 
in  one  of  the  hospitals.  The  Red  Cross  staff  worked  all 
around  the  clock  for  many  days,  providing  bedding,  med- 
icines and  general  hospital  supplies.  Twice  during  the 
epidemic  the  Divisional  Commander  was  attacked  by  the 
disease  but  managed  to  fight  it  off. 


284  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 


FAK    SCOTLAND 

Nearly  a  year  before  the  United  States  entered  the  war 
a  Red  Cross  Care  Committee  of  American  women  was 
formed  at  Edinburgh,  with  Mrs.  Rufus  Fleming,  wife  of 
the  American  consul,  as  chairman.  Its  work  at  that  time 
was  taking  care  of  the  numerous  Americans  who  had  joined 
the  English  or  Canadian  forces  and  had  found  their  way 
into  the  Scottish  hospitals  among  the  sick  or  the  casualties. 
There  was  often  considerable  difficulty  in  locating  these 
men,  as  the  majority  had  intentionally  concealed  their 
identity  and  nationality  upon  joining  the  British  forces. 
However,  the  Care  Committee  at  Edinburgh  went  about 
finding  these  boys  in  business-like  fashion  and  every  im- 
portant hospital  in  or  near  the  city  had  a  poster  on  the 
wall  of  every  ward  announcing  : 

EDINBURGH  CARE  COMMITTEE 

for 

AMERICAN  SOLDIERS  AND  SAILORS 

Mrs.  Rufus  Fleming,  71,  George  Street,  Edinburgh,  will  be 
very  glad  to  receive  the  names  and  addresses  of  the  men  of 
American  nationality  in  this  hospital. 

When  the  United  States  came  into  the  war  the  work  of 
this  Red  Cross  Committee  was  reinforced  by  a  committee 
of  Scotch  people  who  established  the  "  American  Welcome 
Club  ?  as  a  sign  of  their  appreciation  of  America's  en- 
trance into  the  world  conflict.  The  Red  Cross  and  the 
"  Welcome  Club  '  '  worked  together  in  Edinburgh  through- 
out the  year  and  it  was  impossible  for  an  American  sol- 
dier or  sailor  to  pass  through  the  city  without  coming  into 
contact  with  one  or  the  other  of  these  helpful  agencies. 

In  the  Edinburgh  district  there  were  eleven  important 
hospitals,  most  of  them,  however,  located  from  two  to 
twenty  miles  from  the  center  of  the  city  and,  on  this  ac- 
count, the  adequate  "  covering  "  and  visiting  of  these  insti- 
tutions involved  a  great  amount  of  labor.  Occasionally 


HERE  AND  THERE  IN  BRITAIN  285 

American  patients  were  found  in  all  of  them,  but,  distance 
or  no  distance,  the  Red  Cross  women  visited  every  patient 
regularly  and  provided  him  with  every  needful  comfort. 
In  the  list  of  articles  thus  distributed  there  were  many 
things  of  unusual  character,  for  your  American  soldier  and 
sailor  have  fanciful  tastes.  Thus,  in  the  list  for  August, 
1918,  was  found  the  entry,  "  One  mince  pie.'7  The  story 
of  this  delectable  thing  was  thus  told  by  the  Care  Com- 
mittee visitor : 

"  An  American  sailor  who  had  been  badly  injured  by  an 
accident  on  shipboard,  was  hovering  between  life  and  death 
in  one  of  our  Edinburgh  hospitals.  Everything  had  been 
done  by  the  surgeons,  doctors,  nurses  and  the  Red  Cross 
workers  to  minister  to  his  comfort,  yet  there  seemed  some- 
thing lacking. 

"  He  was  homesick.  His  mind  was  constantly  back  in 
his  home  town  on  the  New  England  coast,  and  nothing  that 
the  good  people  in  this  strange  part  of  the  world  could  do 
consoled  him.  It  was  home  that  he  craved,  and  his  yearn- 
ing thoughts  groped  for  a  symbol,  a  visible,  tangible  token 
of  far-away  Massachusetts.  He  wanted  something  that  he 
could  touch  and  sav,  (  This  is  a  bit  of  HOME !  ' 

*/  / 

"  One  day,  in  the  midst  of  his  pain  and  soul-suffering, 
there  flashed  upon  him  the  object  of  his  maddening  quest, 
and  he  murmured  ecstatically,  e  Oh,  if  I  could  only  have  a 
piece  of  mince  pie  !  J 

"  It  wasn't  that  he  wanted  to  eat  a  piece  of  pie,  he  was 
far  too  ill  for  that.  His  hunger  was  for  what  the  pie  rep- 
resented, and  when  you  stop  to  think  of  it  there  is  nothing 
more  American  than  mince  pie.  So  the  Red  Cross  woman 
who  was  Jiere  managed  with  some  difficulty  to  procure  all 
the  ingredients  of  a  real  New  England  mince  pie,  she 
cooked  it  and  brought  it  to  him  with  a  piece  of  cheese  in 
which  was  planted  a  miniature  Stars  and  Stripes. 

"  He  could  not  eat  either  pie  or  cheese,  but  they  con- 
tributed just  the  home  touch  needed  to  improve  his  mental 
condition.  When  the  wife  of  the  American  consul  visited 


286  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

him  a  day  or  two  later  and  remarked  upon  this  improve- 
ment, he  replied: 

"  '  Two  days  ago  I  was  in  such  misery  that  I  could  have 
welcomed  death.  Now  I  feel  that  America  is  not  so  far 
away  as  I  thought  and  that  I  have  got  to  hang  on !  ' 

"  This  sailor  recovered  in  due  course  and  was  sent  to  his 
home  in  America." 

In  the  Edinburgh  hospitals  the  Americans  were,  in  the 
main,  seamen  suffering  from  illness  or  accidents.  When 
the  American  aerodromes  were  erected  in  Scotland  a  num- 
ber of  cases  came  from  these  camps. 

Six  Glasgow  hospitals  received  occasional  American 
cases  and  here  too  there  was  an  efficient,  well-organized 
Care  Committee  of  American  women  who  worked  with  the 
Red  Cross  officer  in  charge  of  the  district.  In  Glasgow  the 
Red  Cross  maintained  a  club  for  the  United  States  forces 
where  thousands  of  soldiers  and  sailors  were  entertained 
during  the  year.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  Scotch  land- 
lord who  owned  the  premises  refused  to  accept  any  rent 
and  a  large  number  of  residents  of  the  city  volunteered  to 
assist  in  the  work  of  the  club  and  insisted  upon  paying  part 
of  the  expenses. 

This  club  was  opened  on  April  15th  and  offered  its  guests 
the  usual  lounge  rooms,  reading  and  writing  rooms,  billiard 
room,  canteen,  and  information  bureau.  A  piano  and 
other  musical  instruments  were  temptingly  provided  as  was 
a  large  assortment  of  American  magazines  and  newspapers 
not  too  old.  There  was  a  weekly  concert  and  trips  and  out- 
ings were  periodically  arranged.  For  the  athletically  in- 
clined the  club  had  a  large  stock  of  tennis  and  baseball 
equipment  and  there  were  several  parks,  squares  and 
parades  where  these  could  be  conveniently  used.  There  is 
nothing  which  the  American  soldier  and  sailor,  just  set 
down  from  a  trans- Atlantic  voyage  so  much  enjoys  as  a 
game  of  baseball,  so  the  club  regularly  "  promoted ' 
matches  between  nines  from  the  various  arriving  ships  or 
those  of  the  aero-squadrons  in  the  neighboring  carnps.  All 


HERE  AND  THERE  IN  BRITAIN  287 

the  ball  players  made  the  Red  Cross  Club  their  head- 
quarters and  there  were  many  merry  gatherings  at  the  can- 
teen before  and  after -the  games. 

In  the  basement  of  the  club  was  a  great  Red  Cross  store- 
house and  here  supplies  were  kept  on  hand  in  sufficient 
quantities  to  provide  for  an  arriving  convoy  of  troops  to  the 
number  of  10,000.  Various  medical  and  surgical  goods 
were  in  stock  for  the  needs  of  the  aero  camps  and  naval 
hospitals  and  the  articles  thus  supplied  began  with  operat- 
ing tables  and  ended  with  fresh  eggs.  The  occasional  ar- 
rival of  convoys  at  Glasgow,  owing  to  the  presence  of  Ger- 
man submarines  near  Liverpool,  brought  sudden  and  heavy 
demands  upon  the  Red  Cross.  These  troops  were  generally 
entrained  for  the  south  immediately.  They  had  a  hot  meal 
aboard  ship  just  before  debarkation  and  arrangements 
were  made  to  supply  them  with  hot  coffee  and  sandwiches 
at  Carlisle,  the  first  railway  stop  on  the  journey  to  Win- 
chester. Because  of  these  provisions  there  was  no  need 
for  an  elaborate  Red  Cross  canteen  menu  at  the  Glasgow 
docks.  Coffee,  chocolate,  cigarettes  and  sandwiches  were 
generally  supplied,  but  there  were  other  and  more  pressing 
needs  on  the  part  of  these  men  just  from  America.  Ex- 
perience demonstrated  that  the  great  wish  of  almost  every 
American  soldier  upon  his  arrival  on  dry  land  was  to  let 
his  people  at  home  know  of  his  safe  arrival  and  the  next 
greatest  wish  to  see  a  newspaper.  So  the  Red  Cross  can- 
teen women  were  provided  with  large  quantities  of  Red 
Cross  post  cards  and  a  plentiful  supply  of  British  and 
American  newspapers  not  to  mention  the  Daily  Bulletin 
published  at  London  headquarters  with  its  baseball  scores 
and  wireless  news  of  the  kind  the  soldiers  wanted.  Owing 
to  the  haste  with  which  the  men  were  entrained  there  was 
seldom  time  for  them  to  write  their  post  cards  before  de- 
parture, so  the  Red  Cross  had  them  collected  and  mailed  at 
Carlisle. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  American  military  works  in 
the  region  of  Glasgow,  in  fact,  in  all  Great  Britain,  was 


288  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

that  of  a  corps  of  engineers  which  was  laying  a  pipe  line 
to  carry  fuel  oil  from  Glasgow  to  Inverness,  on  the  north- 
east coast.  This  was  a  work  of  the  highest  military  im- 
portance and,  strangely  enough,  it  was  kept  more  or  less 
a  secret.  The  completion  of  this  line  meant  not  only  a 
continuous  flow  of  fuel  for  the  oil-burning  warships  of  the 
American  and  British  navies,  hut  a  tremendous  saving  in 
tank  tonnage  and  probably  of  ships  themselves,  as  it  ter- 
minated the  necessity  of  sending  oil  carriers  on  the  danger- 
ous trip  around  the  north  of  Scotland.  The  men  engaged 
in  this  work  were  not  easily  accessible,  as  they  moved  their 
camp  forward  as  their  work  progressed,  but  it  was  part  of 
the  task  of  the  Eed  Cross  men  in  Glasgow  to  follow  the  en- 
gineers and  see  that  they  wished  for  nothing  in  vain,  and 
the  Red  Cross  men  did  it,  often  to  the  surprise  of  the  pipe- 
layers  who  never  tarried  long  in  one  place. 

All  the  Scottish  aero  camps  were  visited  by  the  Red 
Cross  at  frequent  intervals,  supplementing  their  living  ar- 
rangements, bathing  facilities  and  hospital  accommoda- 
tions as  was  necessary.  The  small  camp  infirmaries  which 
the  Red  Cross  installed  filled  a  great  need.  These  were 
not  meant  for  serious  cases,  but  in  the  wear  and  tear  of 
aero-squadron  life,  cases  of  minor  ailments  and  accidents 
constantly  occurred  and  could  be  promptly  and  adequately 
dealt  with  while  the  graver  cases  could  be  accommodated 
awaiting  their  removal  to  hospital. 

There  was  a  great  demand  for  Red  Cross  supplies  of  vari- 
ous kinds  in  these  camps,  most  of  which  were  situated  at  a 
considerable  distance  from  a  town  or  village,  where  the 
damp,  cold  climate  of  Scotland  was  particularly  penetrat- 
ing and  warm,  woolen  clothing  absolutely  indispensable. 

The  United  States  Navy  Base  Hospital  at  Seafield, 
Leith,  was  housed  in  what  was  at  one  time  a  poorhouse. 
Close  to  the  sea,  on  spacious  grounds,  commanding  a  won- 
derful view  of  ocean  and  mountain,  it  was  a  fine  building 
with  glass-roofed  corridor  of  unusual  length.  Within  its 


HERE  AND  THERE  IN  BRITAIN  289 

walls  accommodation  could  easily  be  found  for  650 
patients,  or  even  for  800  without  discomfort. 

Scottish  poorhouses,  before  the  war,  were  centers  of  con- 
troversy in  the  stormy  days  of  British  politics,  but  they 
were,  without  exception,  splendidly  designed  and  con- 
structed buildings.  After  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  these 
poorhouses  entered  upon  a  new  phase  of  life  as  hospitals 
and  sanatoria,  and  it  was  one  of  the  best  of  them  that  was 
turned  over  to  the  American  Navy. 

Its  equipment  was  one  of  the  marvels  of  American 
energy.  Los  Angeles  was  its  patron,  supplying  250  tons 
of  Red  Cross  stores,  which  were  sent  on  to  Philadelphia  for 
shipment.  At  the  League  Island  Navy  Yard  they  were 
packed  by  hundreds  of  men  working  in  four-hour  shifts. 
One  hundred  freight  cars  were  required  to  convey  the  5,500 
packages  from  the  port  of  debarkation  in  Great  Britain  to 
their  destination,  yet  only  thirty-six  cans  of  corn  and  one 
box  of  surgical  instruments  of  all  that  vast  consignment 
went  astray. 

On  an  afternoon  in  August  the  poorhouse  was  taken  over 
as  a  hospital  and  the  staff  was  ready  forthwith  to  care  for 
200  patients  !  Patients  were  already  in  the  institution  the 
day  the  first  Eed  Cross  representative  inspected  it,  and  this 
was  less  than  two  weeks  after  the  250  tons  of  equipment  had 
been  dumped  on  the  premises.  He  found  an  oculist's 
room,  a  dentist's  room,  an  X-ray  chamber  installed,  all  the 
fittings,  to  the  last  least  detail,  having  been  brought  from 
California ! 

A  plan  of  extensive  alteration  was  carried  out  and  hut- 
ments, also  brought  from  America,  were  erected  on  the 
grounds  to  accommodate  the  staff.  The  personnel  num- 
bered 247,  including  twentv-two  physicians,  sixtv-three 

O  t/  -L        t/  »/ 

female  and  eighty  male  nurses.  Proper  decoration  of  a 
hospital  is  regarded  nowadays  as  an  essential  in  the  treat- 
ment of  sick  and  wounded,  and  this  was  well  followed  out 
in  the  Seafield  establishment.  The  buildings  had  not  been 


290  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

painted  for  eleven  years  and  the  remains  of  the  old  crude 
colorings  were  covered  over  with  soft  French  grays,  devoid 
of  polish,  as  most  conducive,  according  to  experience,  to 
the  welfare  of  the  suffering. 

One  of  the  first  things  done  by  the  American  Bed  Cross 
at  Seafield  was  to  begin  the  construction  of  a  home  for  the 
nurses.  This  was  half  finished  when  the  Armistice  was 
signed.  All  the  plans  were  ready,  also,  for  the  erection  of 
a  recreation  hall  capable  of  seating  TOO  persons. 

To  the  United  States  Naval  Base  Hospital  at  Strath- 
peffer,  the  Red  Cross  sent  supplies  and  comforts  for  the 
sick  and  wounded  who,  at  times,  numbered  600.  The  re- 
moteness of  the  place  did  not  prevent  American  women 
living  in  Scotland  from  paying  regular  visits  to  their 
countrymen.  A  Red  Cross  unit  recruited  in  San  Francisco 

•/ 

staffed  the  hospital  and  that  city  furnished  a  major  part 
of  the  equipment  of  the  institution  which  was  opened  on 
March  1,  1918,  simultaneously  with  the  arrival  of  im- 
portant naval  forces  in  the  adjacent  waters.  The  hospital 
was  closed  on  January  15,  1919. 

Strathpeffer  is  in  the  heart  of  the  Highlands  and  the 
hospital  building  was  at  one  time  a  spa,  one  of  the 
magnificent  "  hydropathics  "  which  are  to  be  found  at  vari- 
ous salubrious  spots  throughout  Scotland.  It  had  accom- 
modation at  the  beginning  for  500  patients,  but  could 
readily  have  been  expanded  for  the  use  of  at  least  1,000. 

THE    WORK    IN    IRELAND 

As  there  were  large  American  naval  bases  at  Queenstown 
and  Berehaven,  a  receiving  and  distributing  station  at 
Passage  and  naval  aviation  camps  scattered  throughout  the 
Island,  Red  Cross  work  in  Ireland  was  chiefly  among 
American  bluejackets  and  marines.  Its  central  offices 
were  at  Queenstown  and  Dublin. 

At  Queenstown,  which  was  both  a  permanent  station  for 
about  8,000  men  and  the  base  for  forty  United  States  de- 
stroyers, a  naval  hospital,  its  unit  recruited  by  the  Red 


HERE  AND  THERE  IN  BRITAIN  291 

Cross  in  Providence,  R.  L,  was  built  in  response  to  a  grow- 
ing demand  for  accommodations  for  the  men  being  taken 
care  of  in  the  sick-bays  of  the  Melville  and  the  British  hos- 
pital at  Haulbowline.  This  hospital,  for  which  the  Red 
Cross  provided  everything  that  was  needed,  was  opened  on 
October  11,  1918,  several  weeks  before  scheduled  time,  in 
order  to  receive  twelve  men  from  the  IT.  S.  Destroyer  Shaw 
which  had  been  cut  in  two  off  Ireland  by  the  Aquitania,  two 
officers  and  ten  men  losing  their  lives  in  the  collision.  It 
was  fortunate  that  the  hospital  had  been  opened  as  it  was 
then  in  complete  readiness  for  the  influenza  emergency 
which  swept  through  the  forces  so  soon  afterward,  attack- 
ing particularly  the  destroyer  crews.  At  that  time  the  Red 
Cross  furnished  ambulances  to  convey  the  sick  from  the 
docks.  The  epidemic  created  a  serious  situation  at  Bere- 
haven,  where  the  battleships  were,  and  made  necessary  the 
transportation  of  a  25-bed  tent  hospital  from  London  just 
as  soon  as  it  could  be  got  there,  this  service  being  described 
in  its  picturesque  details  in  the  chapter  narrating  the  ex- 
ploits of  the  doughty  "  Flying  Squadron  "  attached  to  Lon- 
don headquarters. 

From  time  to  time  throughout  the  summer  and  autumn 
various  freight  transports  called  at  Queenstown  and  nearly 
all  of  them  took  on  board  invalided  men  bound  for  Amer- 
ica. All  of  these  vessels  were  visited  by  the  Red  Cross, 
their  sick-bays  inspected  and  provided  with  such  things  as 
were  needed  to  make  the  return  trip  of  the  sick  men  more 
pleasant. 

Eight  hospitals  in  Queenstown  and  its  vicinage  were  the 
especial  care  of  the  Red  Cross  and  its  service  was  a  great 
boon  to  the  men.  One  Red  Cross  woman  visited  1,625 
Americans  in  hospitals  during  the  month  of  December 
alone  and  3,115  in  the  year,  distributing  9,000  comfort  ar- 
ticles. In  many  cases  gifts  which  were  mere  trifles  in 
themselves,  a  comfort  kit  or  a  "  housewife,"  seemed  to  pro- 
duce an  almost  incredible  effect  of  relief  to  a  serious  case. 
A  sailor,  who  had  narrowly  escaped  death  in  an  accidental 


292  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

explosion  of  depth  charges  on  a  destroyer,  regained  con- 
sciousness after  many  days  and  his  awakening  thoughts 
centered  on  the  knowledge  that  he  had  lost  all  of  his  per- 
sonal effects.  His  first  coherent  request  was  for  a  tooth 
brush !  The  Red  Cross  woman  at  his  bedside  handed  him 
a  complete  comfort  bag,  containing  many  more  things  than 
just  one  tooth  brush,  and  the  physician  admitted  that  this 
seemed  to  do  him  more  good  than  all  the  medicines  and 
surgery  and  care  that  they  had  given  him.  The  shipmates 
of  a  badly  injured  man  sent  to  the  Red  Cross  office  one  day 
a  package  enclosing  American  pie  tins,  white  flour,  sugar 
and  apples,  and  a  note  stating  that  their  pal's  favorite  dish 
was  apple  pie.  So  the  Red  Cross  worker  baked  a  beauty 
and  took  it  to  the  hospital  with  the  story  of  thoughtfulness 
behind  it  and  the  injured  man  exclaimed,  "Why,  I'd  rather 
have  this  pie  than  a  twenty-dollar  bill ! ' 

The  erection  of  naval  air  stations  was  begun  on  a  large 
scale  in  the  late  summer  and  to  care  for  cases  of  illness  or 
injury  in  them  and  also  among  the  American  mechanics 
assigned  to  British  Air  Force  training  camps,  the  Red 
Cross  established  a  small  hospital  in  Dublin  and  a  camp 
infirmary  at  Gormanstown.  The  Dublin  hospital,  to 
which,  by  the  way,  General  Biddle  paid  three  visits,  was  a 
residence  overlooking  a  park  and  had  fourteen  rooms,  two 
of  them  large  enough  to  be  transformed  into  ten-bed  wards 
and  a  third  which  was  converted  into  an  officers'  ward  of 
six  beds.  Possession  of  this  building  was  obtained  early 
in  October  and  the  first  patient  to  be  received  was  a  con- 
valescent soldier  from  the  City  of  York  which  had  put 
into  Belfast  with  a  number  of  sick  aboard.  She  had  had 
a  very  rough  passage  during  wThich  a  large  number  died  of 
pneumonia.  Thirty-three  of  the  most  severe  cases  were 
taken  off  the  ship  and  put  in  various  hospitals  in  Belfast, 
but  twelve  of  them  died  during  the  first  two  or  three  days 
and  nine  more  during  the  next  fortnight.  The  Red  Cross 
did  all  it  could  for  these  men,  supplying  special  foods, 
medicines  and  the  various  indispensables  for  pneumonia 


HERE  AND  THERE  IN  BRITAIN  293 

patients.  Those  who  died  were  buried  with  full  military 
honors  in  the  Belfast  City  Cemetery  in  a  plot  set  aside  for 
American  soldiers. 

When,  early  in  September,  Americans  were  being 
brought  to  the  camps  in  Ireland  in  parties  of  about  100, 
the  Red  Cross  set  up  a  canteen  at  the  docks  at  North  Wall, 
Dublin,  to  serve  them,  as  well  as  to  serve  departing  troops. 

The  American  Army  headquarters  in  Dublin  being  too 
small  for  the  growing  importance  of  the  Irish  area,  the  Red 
Cross  put  several  rooms  in  its  headquarters  at  the  disposal 
of  the  army,  providing  offices  for  the  Chief  Surgeon,  offices 
and  storeroom  for  the  Quartermaster,  and  an  office  for  the 
Provost  Marshal.  As  it  was  often  very  difficult  to  obtain 
suitable  billets  in  the  city,  sleeping  quarters  were  allotted 
at  Red  Cross  headquarters  for  the  army's  motor  sergeant 
and  his  drivers. 

In  the  eastern  part  of  Ireland  the  work  of  the  Red  Cross 
was  largely  carried  on  by  the  Dublin  and  Belfast  branches 
of  the  London  Chapter.  The  Dublin  Committee  of  Ameri- 
can Women  opened  club  rooms  for  the  American  soldiers 
and  sailors  with  a  canteen  service,  reading  and  writing 
rooms  and  an  information  bureau.  Also  it  carried  out 
many  kinds  of  helpful  work,  from  hospital  visiting  to  enter- 
tainment. The  ladies  in  charge  of  the  club  room  served  tea 
every  afternoon  and  supper  every  evening  entirely  at  their 
own  expense. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE    BLUEJACKETS    OF    CARDIFF    AND    PLYMOUTH 

AT  Cardiff,  in  Wales,  the  United  States  Navy  estab- 
lished one  of  its  most  important  bases  in  Great 
Britain,  for  it  was  to  this  port  that  seventeen  of  its  giant 
colliers  came  for  fine  Welsh  coal  for  the  American  fleet  in 
British  waters  and  here  also  came  eighty-two  other  Gov- 
ernment vessels  to  load  coal  for  Brest,  Bordeaux,  Nantes, 
and  St.  Nazaire  for  the  use  of  the  American  Army.  Al- 
most every  day  there  was  a  coal  ship  in  or  out  of  the  port. 
Two  thousand  American  sailors  were  based  at  Cardiff,  the 
working  crews,  guns  crews,  and  radio  men  of  the  colliers. 
It  was  an  extensive  field  for  the  Red  Cross  not  only  by  rea- 
son of  the  things  which  could  normally  be  counted  upon  to 
happen,  but  for  those  likely  to  happen,  because  the  German 
submarines  were  after  those  coal  ships  every  run. 

So  the  Red  Cross  created  a  base  of  its  own  there  and  put 
in  charge  of  it  a  cattle  rancher  from  Wyoming.  That  may 
seem  a  strange  thing  to  have  done,  but  if  personalities  may, 
for  a  moment  be  permitted,  the  Red  Cross  never  did  a  wiser 
thing  than  when  it  sent  Ira  Casteel  to  Cardiff.  It  is  quite 
impossible  to  write  of  what  was  done  in  that  busy  Welsh 
port  without  writing  first  of  all  of  Casteel,  for  it  was  he 
who  "  put  over  "  the  Red  Cross  there.  It's  slang,  perhaps, 
but  it's  expressive  and  he  "  put  it  over  "  in  a  way  that  will 
endear  the  Red  Cross  to  every  naval  man  who  came  in 
contact  with  it,  from  Rear  Admiral  Philip  Andrews,  the 
base  commander,  down  to  the  newest  and  youngest 
"  rookie."  Casteel  went  at  the  work  in  July,  1918,  and  at 
that  time  he  had  brown  hair.  This  detail  would  mean 
nothing  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  when  he  left  Cardiff 

294 


BLUEJACKETS  OF  CARDIFF  AND  PLYMOUTH      295 

in  June,  1919  his  hair  was  white.  Of  course  this  might 
have  happened  if  he  had  remained  on  the  Wyoming  ranch, 
but  it  didn't.  When  the  u  flu  "  descended  upon  the  world 
in  the  autumn  of  1918  and  sick  men  were  being  set  ashore 
at  Cardiff  from  the  colliers  daily,  when  nurses  were  every- 
where engaged  and  none  to  be  had,  Casteel  was  nurse, 
orderly,  messenger,  everything  in  the  little  Red  Cross  hos- 
pital he  set  up.  He  nursed  the  men,  he  cooked  their  food 
and  every  night  he  washed  their  clothes,  all  alone,  and  this 
for  nearly  six  weeks ! 

He  had  three  critically  ill  men  in  his  hospital,  a  naval 
lieutenant  and  two  sailors.  The  place  was  so  small  and 
overcrowded  that  all  three  were  put  in  one  little  room,  but 
as  the  lieutenant  seemed  to  have  a  chance  to  live,  while  the 
other  two  were  all  but  passing  out,  the  officer  was  placed 
in  the  center  of  the  three  with  the  only  screen  in  the  house 
around  his  bed.  Also  it  kept  the  two  dying  men  on  the 
flanks  of  his  bed  from  seeing  each  other  and  how  ill  each 
was. 

To  understand  this  situation  one  must  realize  that  the 
"  flu  "  of  that  autumn  swept  across  the  world  like  a  plague 
and  a  hospital  with  two  patients  in  it  on  one  day  might  have 
two  hundred  the  next,  or  even  2,000,  and  pneumonia 
stalked  the  "  flu  "  like  a  gray  wolf.  It  was  so  sudden,  so 
severe  that  once  the  navy  had  to  send  a  vessel  300  miles  to 
sea  from  Cardiff  to  bring  in  a  cargo  whose  crew  was  too  ill 
to  work  her  to  port. 

But,  to  go  back,  there  was  one  nurse  in  the  Red  Cross 
hospital  the  night  the  three  men  were  brought  in  and 
Casteel  set  her  to  watch  over  one  of  the  bluejackets  who,  in 
the  delirium  of  his  last  hours,  was  trying  his  best  to  get 
out  of  bed  to  see  his  pal  on  the  other  side  of  the  screen. 
In  a  little  while  this  man  collapsed  and  died,  and  both  the 
other  men  knew  it,  sensed  it,  although  he  went  out  without 
a  sound.  For  once,  as  Casteel  passed  the  lieutenant's  cot, 
the  officer  looked  up  and  said,  "  I'll  be  the  next,  I  guess.'7 

Casteel  took  away  the  screen,  sat  down  by  the  man's  bed 


296  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

and  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour  had  infused  him  with  the  de- 
termination to  live.  Casteel  found  out  that  the  man  had  a 
wife  and  he  played  upon  this  string  until  the  lieutenant 
would  in  Casteel's  own  words,  "  have  lived  if  he  died  for 
it." 

When  this  task  was  accomplished  Casteel  went  away  to 
call  up  the  undertaker  to  remove  the  dead  man,  because  he 
wasn't  sure  about  keeping  up  the  morale  of  the  others  with 
a  sheeted  body  only  a  few  feet  away.  After  the  under- 
taker had  brought  out  the  body,  Casteel  besought  him  to  re- 
main, because  he  felt  that,  for  all  he  could  do,  the  other 
two  men  were  as  well  as  gone.  "  There  will  be  two  more 
to  take  out  in  a  little  while,"  he  explained  to  the  under- 
taker, "  so  please  wait.  I'd  rather  they  were  all  taken  out 
at  the  same  time,  so  the  other  fellows  in  the  hospital  won't 
be  made  to  feel  unnecessarily  depressed.  I'd  lose  my  grip 
on  a  lot  of  them  if  they  saw  a  procession  of  bodies  going 
out,  you  know." 

But  there  was  never  a  thought  of  not  trying  to  "  beat ? 
the  undertaker,  so  he  raced  back  to  the  little  room  where 
the  two  very  sick  men  remained  and  sat  by  them  in  turn. 

"  You're  going  to  be  all  right  now,"  he  assured  them. 
"  You've  gone  past  the  worst  part  of  it  —  here,  have  a 
drink  of  this.  It's  up  to  you  now,  old  man,  you're  the  boy 
who  can  do  it.  See,  you're  smiling,  I  knew  you  were  all 
right." 

From  bed  to  bed  he  went,  holding  the  men  by  their  life- 
less hands,  imploring  them  to  "  buck  up,"  telling  them  in 
the  sea  language  they  understood  —  and  where  a  Wyoming 
ranchman  ever  picked  it  up  is  a  mystery  —  that  they'd 
"  weathered  hell,  even  if  their  lee  leeches  were  smoking," 
and  that  every  little  thing  was  all  right  now.  He  fixed 
their  pillows,  fanned  them,  bullied  them  and  then,  when- 
ever he  could  do  it,  he  dashed  down  again  to  the  undertaker 
seated  and  fidgeting  in  the  office  below,  pleading  with  him 
to  wait  just  a  few  minutes  more  because  the  fellows  up- 
stairs couldn't  last  much  longer.  And,  in  turn,  darting 


BLUEJACKETS  OF  CARDIFF  AND  PLYMOUTH       297 

up  to  the  little  room  with  the  beds  in  it,  working,  praying, 
threatening,  fighting  for  the  lives  of  the  two. 

This  went  on  from  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening  until  after 
midnight,  when  the  undertaker  finally  fidgeted  out,  saying 
he  couldn't  wait  another  instant,  that  he  had  to  get  back 
to  his  shop. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  need  never  have  waited  one  in- 
stant, because,  by  some  miracle,  Casteel  pulled  both  of  those 
men  back  to  life  and  eventually  sent  them  home  to  Amer- 
ica. Perhaps  it's  not  so  strange  after  all  that  his  hair 
turned  white. 

It  was  Casteel,  too,  who  fought  with  owners,  lawyers, 
authorities,  every  one  in  Cardiff  who  opposed  him  when  he 
set  about  acquiring  a  large  disused  aeroplane  factory  as 
a  dormitory  and  club  house  for  the  bluejackets  who  came  to 
the  base.  He  got  it  eventually,  you  may  be  sure,  and  fitted 
it  up  with  bunks  and  a  mess  hall  and  a  handy  24-foot  ring 
in  which  the  men  could  work  off  their  ambitions  and  their 
surplus  energy.  When  he  thought  it  would  be  a  good  idea 
to  have  concerts  or  dramatic  entertainments  every  week 
at  the  barracks,  he  went  to  the  managers  of  the  theaters  in 
Cardiff  and  three  days  later  one  of  the  companies  sent 
nearly  a  dozen  of  its  members  who  had  volunteered  to  cheer 
the  "  gobs  '  along,  and  every  week  thereafter  a  perform- 
ance was  thus  provided  for  the  men.  Casteel  tried  to  buy 
emergency  stores  for  the  Red  Cross  from  the  navy  and  was 
told  it  couldn't  be  done,  regulations  forbade  it.  That  was 
too  bad,  but  he'd  see  what  he  could  do  about  it;  so  he  took 
the  matter  up  with  Admiral  Sims  —  and  after  that  he 
bought  stores  for  the  Red  Cross  from  the  navy. 

He  was  a  man  with  a  great  heart,  a  great  determination, 
this  Casteel  man  from  a  Wyoming  ranch. 

After  a  while  he  got  all  his  mechanisms  running 
smoothly,  his  hospital  established  in  three  adjoining  houses, 
a  detail  of  six  Red  Cross  nurses,  a  big  warehouse  and  a 
garage  and  then  an  average  of  forty  bed  patients  were  cared 
for  and  about  100  men  a  day  attended  at  the  Red  Cross 


298  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

dispensary.  It  bad  not  been  easy  going  for  a  number  of 
reasons,  but  there  never  was  a  man  more  wrapped  up  in 
tbe  work  tban  Casteel,  and  tbe  sailors  worshipped  him. 

"  I  hate  to  give  it  up/'  he  said  when  he  came  back  to 
London  late  in  June  last,  "  because  I've  never  been  so 
happy  in  my  life  over  anything  I've  done.  And  I'd  like  to 
have  kept  at  it  a  bit  longer,  just  to  see  if  my  hair  wouldn't 
go  back  to  brown." 

Naval  service  extended  far  outside  the  limits  of  the  hos- 
pital and  the  dispensary.  Money  was  forwarded  to  rela- 
tives in  the  States  for  more  than  500  of  the  bluejackets  and 
the  tally  of  articles  distributed  included  3,000  sweaters, 
1,000  pairs  of  gloves,  2,000  wristlets,  helmets  and  mufflers, 
10,000  packages  of  chocolate,  and  more  than  150,000 
cigarettes. 

The  Red  Cross  received  immediate  information  as  to  the 
arrival  or  departure  of  every  American  ship  and  an  automo- 
bile service  was  maintained  for  the  purpose  of  putting 
needed  supplies  aboard  a  vessel  at  the  earliest  possible  mo- 
ment. As  soon  as  a  ship  arrived,  the  men  aboard  her  were 
notified  of  the  location  of  Red  Cross  headquarters  and  of 
the  facilities  at  their  disposal  there,  including  billets,  sup- 
plies, a  laundry,  reading  and  writing  rooms,  a  dispensary, 
and,  in  short,  an  organization  ready  to  give  them  what- 
ever they  needed  from  head  to  foot. 

Emergency  stations  with  Cardiff  as  a  center,  were  estab- 
lished at  Milford  Haven,  Swansea  and  Tenby,  at  each  of 
which  were  stored  such  things  as  might  be  needed  by  the 
crews  of  shipwrecked  or  torpedoed  vessels.  The  stations 
were  of  a  character  similar  to  that  of  the  ones  in  Ireland 
which  were  of  such  great  value  at  the  time  of  the  Otranto 
disaster.  Other  relief  stations  were  placed  at  Abery- 
stwyth,  Cardigan  and  Pembroke  and  there  was  a  large 
American  Red  Cross  child  welfare  center  at  Swansea. 

Shortly  before  the  signing  of  the  Armistice  there  were 
indications  that  a  great  naval  engagement  impended  and 
the  Cardiff  office  perfected  arrangements  to  care  for  3,000 


BLUEJACKETS  OF  CARDIFF  AND  PLYMOUTH       299 

men,  the  equipment  gathered  including  beds,  mattresses, 
linen  and  hospital  supplies. 

For  United  States  Naval  Headquarters,  the  Red  Cross 
provided  ninety  mattresses,  200  blankets,  two  motor  cars,  a 
motorcycle  and  the  usual  complete  array  of  surgical  and 
hospital  appliances. 

Several  times  the  Cardiff  station  supplied  clothes  and 
other  necessities  to  the  crews  of  wrecked  vessels,  notably 
those  of  the  IT.  S.  S.  Lake  Weston,  driven  ashore  off  hash's 
Point  in  a  December  gale  in  Bristol  Channel,  twenty  miles 
from  the  port  while  on  her  way  from  France  with  a  cargo 
of  mining  timbers;  the  U.  S.  S.  Lake  Erie,  wrecked  off 
Penarth  in  mid-January  and  sinking  in  twelve  minutes, 
and  the  U.  S.  S.  Lake  Bohrne  and  Lake  Remington,  both 
sunk  in  the  treacherous  waters  of  Bristol  Channel.  In  all 
of  these  cases  no  lives  were  lost,  but  as  soon  as  the  wreck 
was  reported  the  Red  Cross  filled  a  oar  with  personal  and 
medical  supplies  and  dashed  off  down  the  coast  to  the 
rescue. 

So  active  was  the  port  of  Cardiff  that,  while  the  Red 
Cross  was  on  duty  there,  more  than  100,000  American 
bluejackets  and  naval  officers  entered,  passed  through  or 
were  attached  to  the  base.  Of  these  the  Red  Cross  at- 
tended more  than  eighty  per  cent.  It  cared  for  374  pa- 
tients —  250  of  them  "  flu  '  cases  —  in  its  own  hospital, 
only  nine  of  whom  died,  and  for  267  in  the  navy's  sick-bay 
at  base  headquarters.  At  the  Red  Cross  dispensary  3,600 
sailors  received  treatment  and  up  to  April  1,  1919,  a  total 
of  48,000  men  had  been  canteen  guests  of  the  Red  Cross. 
The  number  of  billets  furnished,  which  means  a  lodging 
for  the  night,  amounted  to  more  than  43,000.  In  loans  to 
enlisted  men  £1,256  were  given  out  and  by  June,  1919, 
eighty-two  per  cent  of  this  amount  had  been  repaid.  One 
hundred  and  seventy  ships  received  Red  Cross  supplies  and 
the  number  of  complaints  was  zero. 

Considerable  plans  for  hospitalization  in  Wales  were 
under  way  at  the  time  of  the  Armistice  and  then  aban- 


300  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

doned.  Preparations  had  been  made  to  take  over  large 
properties  at  Newport  and  Abergavenny. 

During  the  latter  part  of  1918,  a  separate  Red  Cross 
area  was  organized  with  headquarters  at  Plymouth,  cover- 
ing southwest  England  from  Paignton  to  Penzance  and  em- 
bracing the  English  counties  of  Devon  and  Cornwall.  It 
included  the  U.  S.  Base  Hospital,  at  Paignton,  formerly  an 
American  Red  Cross  Hospital,  and  the  still  newer  U.  S. 
Base  Hospital  at  Fort  Efford,  at  Plymouth,  which  was  still 
in  the  constructional  stage  when  the  Armistice  was  de- 
clared. Plymouth  was  an  important  center  from  the  point 
of  view  of  emergency  relief,  because  with  stations  here  and 
at  Falmouth,  Ilfracombe  and  Penzance  it  was  possible  to 
rush  supplies  to  any  part  of  the  coast  in  case  of  disaster,  so 
much  to  be  expected  on  that  rugged  shore-line. 

In  addition  to  the  two  American  hospitals  in  this  district 
there  was  hospital  service  also  for  Americans  in  the  British 
institutions  at  Exeter  and  Newton  Abbot. 

The  naval  side  of  the  work  at  Plymouth  was  important 
as  more  than  600  United  States  sailors  and  1,200 
"  chasers  ' '  were  based  on  this  port.  Everything  possible 
was  done  to  make  happy  the  lot  of  these  men.  Two  recrea- 
tion rooms,  one  at  Red  Cross  headquarters  in  the  town  and 
one  on  the  Quay,  were  established,  and  there  the  men  came 
continually  in  personal  touch  with  the  cheerful  women  of 
the  Care  Committee.  These  recreation  rooms  had  a 
marked  influence  upon  the  men  and,  through  them,  many 
of  the  sailors  made  wholesome  friendships  with  the  resi- 
dents of  the  old  town.  Of  course,  the  canteen  service  was 
highly  popular  and  it  ministered  to  the  men  in  more  than 
12,000  instances,  which  means,  naturally,  that  there  were 
many  "  repeaters/'  With  its  supplies  the  Red  Cross  was 
generous  as  usual,  and  more  than  367,000  individual 
articles  were  given  away  to  add  to  the  comfort  of  the  blue- 
jackets. As  the  "  chasers '  were  small  and  not  well 
equipped  with  bathing  facilities,  the  Red  Cross  bought  hun- 


BLUEJACKETS  OF  CARDIFF  AND  PLYMOUTH      301 

dreds  of  tickets  from  a  Plymouth  bath  corporation  and 
issued  them  gratis  at  all  times  to  any  of  the  sailors  who  ap- 
plied. One  of  the  forms  of  amusement  the  Red  Cross  or- 
ganized was  "  hikes  ?  on  bright  days  into  the  interesting 
countryside.  Visits  were  made  to  historical  places  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Plymouth  and  to  noted  estates  and  in  many 
cases  the  owners  of  these  estates  met  the  "  hiking  '  parties 
and  hospitably  showed  them  about. 

Particularly  proud  was  the  Red  Cross  staff  of  its  ability 
to  meet  and  handle  "  rush  jobs '  and  it  had  a  number  of 
them  to  test  its  mettle.  The  first  came  early  in  January, 
1919,  when  it  was  called  upon  to  supply  20,000  dressings 
and  miscellaneous  equipment  to  the  hospital  ship  Comfort. 
In  the  designated  time,  the  dressings  and  18,104  other 
articles  were  put  aboard.  At  another  time,  in  mid-Febru- 
ary, all  the  "  chasers '  and  their  personnel,  numbering 
about  1,100  men,  were  ordered  to  other  ports.  In  this  in- 
stance 6,473  articles  were  supplied  in  addition  to  101,046 
cigarettes.  Once  it  was  called  upon  to  provide  $1,000 
worth  of  dental  supplies  and  in  the  early  spring  it  prepared 
and  served  food  to  547  sailors  sent  from  Cardiff  to  man 
the  ImperatoTj  with  only  a  few  hours'  notice  and  only 
forty-five  minutes  in  which  to  do  the  actual  service. 

Although  the  Red  Cross  had  much  else  to  do,  the  main 
part  of  its  activity  was  in  preparation  to  serve  the  big  base 
hospital  at  Ford  Efford,  which  was  to  have  been  opened 
early  in  December,  1918,  but,  on  account  of  the  Armistice, 
it  was  never  opened  as  an  American  institution  but  was 
turned  over  to  the  British  in  its  nearly-completed  state. 

There  were  1,500  Americans  in  thirteen  British  hospi- 
tals in  the  district,  mainly  men  wounded  in  France  while 
brigaded  with  the  British  troops.  Many  of  these  men  had 
been  completely  out  of  touch  with  their  paymasters  for  a 
long  time  and  were  generally  lonesome  and  forlorn,  but  the 
Red  Cross  hunted  them  out  and  helped  them,  whatever 
their  wants.  Toward  the  end  of  the  year  all  of  them  were 


302  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

gathered  together  and  sent  home  in  the  hospital  ships,  and 
what  the  Red  Cross  had  done  to  aid  them  was  expressed 
by  one  man  as  he  was  going  aboard  his  vessel,  "  We  feel 
that  the  Red  Cross  has  done  everything  for  us." 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

WITH    THE    ARMY    TO    ARCHANGEL 

DURING   war-time   the  garrulous   old  lady  we   call 
Rumor  is  busier  than  anyone  else  in  the  world. 
u 

She  goes  up  and  down  the  land  with  whisperings  and  wise 
nods,  doing  good  and  evil  impartially.  All  she  desires  is  to 
be  busy  and  to  stir  things  up  generally.  In  the  course  of 
her  travels  in  July,  1918,  she  got  into  Red  Cross  Head- 
quarters in  London  one  afternoon  and  confided,  behind  her 
hand,  that  the  United  States  intended  to  send  an  Expedi- 
tionary Force  to  the  North  of  Russia  to  cooperate  with  the 
British,  French  and  Italians.  She  "  knew  "  no  more  than 
that  just  then.  It  did  not  seem  an  unlikely  military 
maneuver,  considering  the  conditions  in  that  part  of 
Europe,  and  after  she  left,  the  Red  Cross  set  about  verify- 
ing the  information.  Telegrams  were  dispatched  to  Paris 
and  Washington  in  search  of  confirmation  but  none  was 
forthcoming. 

In  a  little  while,  however,  back  came  the  persistent  Old 
Lady,  this  time  with  the  announcement  that  Murmansk  had 
at  first  been  decided  upon  as  the  destination  of  the 
expedition,  but  that  later  counsel  had  urged  Archangel 
as  the  better  strategic  objective  and  that  the  troops  were 
certainly  to  be  ordered  there.  Again  the  Red  Cross 
flashed  out  inquiries  and  this  time,  after  a  long  delay  - 
definite  information  was  obtained.  An  Expeditionary 
Force  was  to  be  sent  to  Russia,  it  was  to  be  outfitted  in 
Great  Britain  and  sail  from  there  for  Archangel  as  soon  as 
fully  equipped. 

It  was  self-evident  that  such  an  undertaking  would  com- 
pel a  heavy  draught  upon  the  energies  and  resources  of 

303 


304  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

the  Red  Cross  and  plans  to  meet  it  were  at  once  set  afoot 
by  urgent  requisition  for  supplies  from  headquarters  in 
America.  The  task  before  the  Red  Cross,  great  enough 
in  the  beginning,  was  soon  much  increased  in  one  respect, 
for  the  military  authorities,  with  the  same  order  which  re- 
duced the  number  of  troops  contemplated  in  the  original 
plan  of  expedition,  moved  forward  the  date  of  departure. 
This  materially  shortened  the  time  in  which  so  much  had 
to  be  accomplished.  But  it  also  served  to  put  the  organi- 
zation on  its  mettle. 

About  two  weeks  before  the  appointed  sailing  day,  the 
plans  of  the  army  had  been  worked  out  to  a  point  which 
made  it  possible  to  send  a  committee  of  Red  Cross  officers 
to  Aldershot,  where  the  American  troops  destined  for 
service  in  North  Russia  were  encamped,  to  determine, 
with  the  aid  of  military  officials,  what  the  Red  Cross  could 
most  usefully  provide  for  this  far-voyaging  command. 
The  ambulance  train  and  medical  detachment  assigned 
to  the  unit  were  from  a  base  hospital  which  had  been 
originally  organized  and  outfitted  at  Detroit,  largely 
through  the  local  chapter  of  the  Red  Cross.  But  inspec- 
tion at  Aldershot  disclosed  the  unfortunate  fact  that  prac- 
tically all  of  the  principal  equipment  and  baggage  of  the 
medical  detachment  had,  through  error,  been  forwarded 
to  France.  Thus  it  was  in  great  need  of  supplies  of  all 
kinds,  not  the  least  of  which  was  thick,  suitable  clothing. 
Also  there  was  little  left  of  the  welfare  and  recreational 
material  which  the  Detroit  Chapter  had  so  thoughtfully 
included  among  its  stores. 

The  general  equipment  for  the  expedition  was  being 
furnished  by  the  British  Quartermaster's  Department,  the 
uniforms  being  of  a  standardized  pattern  designed  by  Sir 
Ernest  Shackleton,  the  Arctic  explorer  and  especially  cal- 
culated to  protect  the  men  against  the  rigors  of  Russian 
winter.  A  large  part  of  the  deficiencies  in  ambulance 
and  hospital  equipment  was  also  supplied  by  the  British 
and  a  list  of  these  and  other  articles  to  be  similarly  pro- 


WITH  THE  ARMY  TO  ARCHANGEL  305 

vided  was  carefully  reviewed  and  checked  by  the  Red  Cross 
representatives  and  the  medical  officers  of  the  expedition. 
After  consultation  it  was  decided  that,  as  the  bulk  of 
what  may  be  called  routine  supplies  was  satisfactory  or 
had  been  arranged  for,  the  Red  Cross  should  generally 
confine  itself  to  furnishing  articles  of  a  supplemental  char- 
acter. This  included  comforts  and  delicacies  for  the  sick 
and  recreational  material.  So  many  things  can  be  legiti- 
mately included  in  the  latter  category  that  it  will  cause 
the  reader  little  wonder  to  learn  that  ten  pages  of  closely- 
typewritten  foolscap  were  necessary  for  the  listing  of  the 
articles  which  the  Red  Cross  provided  for  this  first  Arch- 
angel expedition.  The  list,  as  finally  prepared,  included 
not  only  the  familiar  things,  such  as  sweaters,  mufflers, 
wristlets,  mittens,  helmets,  soap,  tooth  and  hair  brushes, 
razors,  "  housewives,"  chocolate,  nuts,  raisins,  dates  and 
figs,  but  — 

Jewsharps  Ukeleles 

Carpentry  tools.  Canned  heat 

Foot-lights  Playing  cards 

Hockey  sticks  Footballs 

Moving-picture  machines          Guitars 

Cigarette  lighters  Boxing  gloves 

Wigs  Theatrical  make-up  boxes 

Curling  stones  Skates 

Mandolins  Accordeons 

Cameras  Indoor-baseball  outfits 

Snowshoes  Talking  machines 

Checkers  Dominoes 

An  English  army  officer,  who  saw  the  enumeration  of 
these  supplies  said,  "  Well,  that's  the  most  extraordinary 
list  I've  ever  laid  eyes  on !  '  Perhaps  this  comment  will 
also  suffice  for  the  reader. 

But  the  formulation  of  this  list  was  only  the  beginning. 
It  was  unfortunate,  but  eminently  reasonable,  that  the 

'  «/ 

army  could  not  give  the  Red  Cross,  or  any  one,  for  that 
matter,  detailed  information  about  the  delivery  or  wharf 


306  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

destination  of  these  stores.  On  August  15th,  it  announced 
that  the  supplies  must  be  ready  for  delivery  not  later  than 
the  morning  of  the  19th.  This  was  an  incredibly  short 
allowance  of  four  days  into  which  to  crowd  so  much  work. 
Available  supplies  in  the  Red  Cross  warehouses  were  in- 
adequate in  view  of  so  strange  and  varied  a  schedule  of  re- 
quirements and  the  stores  for  which  appeal  had  been  made 
to  Washington  had  not  then  arrived  in  volume.  So  the 
Red  Cross  had  to  ask  for  permission  to  purchase  freely  in 
the  English  markets.  This  was  instantly  forthcoming  and 
most  of  the  articles  were  secured  in  the  desired  quantities, 
some,  however,  with  considerable  difficulty.  One  example 
will  serve  to  illustrate  the  obstacles  the  organization  had 
to  surmount.  Twelve  large  cooking  stoves  were  among 
the  things  called  for.  There  were  no  stoves  of  the  type 
desired  by  the  military  authorities  to  be  found  in  London 
so  it  was  necessary  to  purchase  them  in  Scotland.  To  ob- 
tain delivery  at  the  London  docks  in  time  for  loading, 
considering  the  congested  condition  of  freight  transporta- 
tion throughout  Great  Britain,  was  impossible  by  ordinary 
means.  But  after  considerable  effort,  the  Red  Cross  re- 
ceived permission  to  attach  a  freight  car  to  the  end  of  a 
through  passenger  train  from  Scotland,  and  the  stoves  ac- 
cordingly arrived  in  London  well  within  the  time  limit, 
and  were  eventually  loaded  aboard  the  troopship. 

From  August  15th  to  17th  practically  all  the  energies 
of  the  American  Red  Cross  headquarters  staff  in  London 
were  centered  upon  the  purchase,  collection  and  packing 
of  the  supplies  for  the  expedition.  In  this  task  the 
British  Red  Cross  cooperated  most  energetically  and  was 
responsible  for  the  f orwarding  of  a  large  quantity  of  stores. 
Two  of  the  American  Red  Cross  warehouses  in  London 
packed  7,000  comfort  kits  in  less  than  three  days.  And 
by  midnight  on  the  18th,  everything  destined  for  North 
Russia  was  crated,  labeled  and  awaiting  the  receipt  of  trans- 
portation instructions. 

These  came  only  on  the  morning  of  the  19th  and  were 


WITH  THE  ARMY  TO  ARCHANGEL  307 

briefly  to  the  effect  that  a  transport  would  be  at  the  Royal 
Albert  docks  in  the  East-End  of  London  to  take  on  sup- 
plies during  the  next  twenty-four  hours.  The  British  Red 
Cross  sent  word  immediately  that  it  would  deliver  all  cases 
of  supplies  which  it  was  providing,  and  the  American  Red 
Cross  supply  department  augmented  its  own  transport 
equipment  by  arranging  to  hire  a  large  number  of  addi- 
tional trucks  locally  for  the  transport  of  the  supplies  to  the 
port.  At  the  last  moment,  however,  a  strike  of  'bus  and 
underground  railway  drivers  in  London  threatened  to  dis- 
arrange all  the  carefully  made  plans.  It  was  learned  that 
the  British  Government  had  commandeered  all  the  avail- 
able motor  transport  in  the  London  area  to  carry  munition 
workers  to  and  from  their  factories,  and  on  that  account 
it  was  absolutely  impossible  for  the  Red  Cross  to  obtain 
any  outside  transportation.  American  Army  headquarters 
was  asked  to  come  to  the  rescue,  and  it  ordered  five  large 
army  lorries  from  Winchester  to  be  immediately  dis- 
patched to  assist  the  Red  Cross  in  London.  They  came  as 
fast  as  their  engines  permitted  and  it  was  only  with  this 
assistance  that  the  American  Red  Cross  was  able  to  move 
so  large  a  mass  of  freight  from  its  warehouses  to  the  dis- 
tant wharves. 

But,  as  if  there  were  not  enough  already,  other  difficul- 
ties developed.  American  Army  headquarters  had  de- 
tailed a  large  number  of  soldiers  to  assist  in  the  work 
of  loading  the  two  ships,  but,  owing  to  the  strike,  ar- 
rangements which  had  been  made  to  care  for  this  baggage 
detail  at  the  piers  twenty  miles  down  the  river  had  col- 
lapsed and  there  were  no  facilities  in  sight  whereby  these 
men  could  be  fed  and  housed.  In  point  of  numbers,  the 
task  would  not  ordinarily  have  presented  much  difficulty 
but  at  this  particular  time  it  constituted  a  considerable 
obstacle.  Nevertheless,  true  to  Red  Cross  traditions,  the 
Commission  advised  the  American  Army  authorities  that 
the  Red  Cross  would  undertake  to  feed  and  house  seventy 
men  at  the  Royal  Albert  Docks  and  250  men  at  Tilbury 


308  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

Docks  where  another  transport  of  the  Russian  convoy  was 
being  loaded  with  army  supplies. 

The  only  available  Red  Cross  canteen  equipment  in 
England  was  then  being  utilized  at  Liverpool  for  a  large 
force  of  incoming  troops.  The  Liverpool  office  of  the 
American  Red  Cross  was  instructed  by  telephone  to  load 
this  entire  equipment  on  the  midnight  train  from  Liver- 
pool after  having  completed  its  work  for  the  incoming 
soldiers.  In  this  wray  it  reached  London  early  on  the 
following  morning,  was  immediately  dispatched  to  the 
London  docks,  and  went  into  action  by  breakfast  time. 
At  Tilbury  Docks,  St.  John's,  the  local  church,  lent  its 
Thames  Church  Mission  to  the  Red  Cross  for  use  as  can- 
teen buildings  in  the  emergency,  and  thus  the  Commission 
for  Great  Britain  was  able  promptly  to  provide  food  and 
billets  for  the  troops  engaged  in  loading  the  equipment  and 
baggage  at  this  point. 

Now  enters  the  "  Flying  Squadron  "  !  For  it  was  at  the 
Royal  Albert  Docks  that  the  precious  band  took  charge 
of  the  housing  and  food  arrangements  and,  rather  more 
than  incidentally,  of  getting  Red  Cross  supplies  aboard  the 
troopship.  And  at  this,  so  to  speak,  supplemental  task  it 
once  more  signally  distinguished  itself.  Ask  the  army 
if  it  didn't ! 

In  the  first  place,  the  brief  notice  the  Squadron  re- 
ceived of  the  work  it  had  to  do  in  caring  for  the  loading 
detachment  of  soldiers  and  dock  workers,  required  three 
flying  trips  from  London  to  transport  the  necessary  food, 
blankets  and  paraphernalia.  On  a  pier  not  far  from  the 
berth  of  the  transport,  a  building  erected  by  the  Blue 
Funnel  Line  as  a  shelter  for  the  'longshoremen  which  had 
already  been  placed  at  the  service  of  the  Red  Cross  solved 
the  problem  of  housing.  As  it  left  no  room  for  the  prep- 
aration of  meals,  one  of  the  Squadron  went  aboard  a  vessel 
in  a  neighboring  dry-clock,  spent  a  quarter  of  an  hour 
"  jollying '  the  cook  and  came  back  with  the  joyful  news 
that  the  ship's  galley  had  been  lent  to  the  Red  Cross  for 


WITH  THE  ARMY  TO  ARCHANGEL  309 

as  long  a  time  as  it  cared  to  make  use  of  it.  That  ques- 
tion settled,  two  of  the  corps  volunteered  as  cooks,  rolled 
up  their  sleeves  and  set  to  work. 

Although  the  size  of  the  Expeditionary  Force  had  been 
reduced  to,  approximately  5,000,  the  volume  of  material 
the  Red  Cross  had  supplied  was  very  large.  In  addition 
to  all  this,  there  was  British  Red  Cross  stuff  and  the 
American  Army  was  putting  aboard  the  transport  its  own 
stores  of  many  kinds  and  in  great  quantity.  These  latter 
were,  not  unnaturally,  considered  vital ;  they  must  be 
stowed,  too,  as  quickly  as  possible.  At  the  same  time,  and 
also  not  unnaturally,  the  "  Flying  Squadron  '  took  a  deep 
and  jealous  interest  in  the  Red  Cross  material  which 
mounted  higher  with  every  arriving  truck.  This  must  be 
got  aboard  at  the  same  time. 

It  is,  the  writer  understands,  a  business  maxim  that 
results  alone  count,  details  being  merely  unimportant 
means  to  an  end.  The  Squadron  was  evidently  of  this 
belief,  because  it  religiously  guarded  all  the  details  of  its 
work  at  the  Royal  Albert  Docks,  but  so  far  as  results  go, 
the  Red  Cross  stores  suddenly  began  to  disappear  into  the 
hold  of  the  transport.  Up  went  a  case  of  army  goods,  up 
went  a  Red  Cross  crate.  Hour  after  hour  it  continued, 
the  Squadron  men  selecting  the  boxes  in  accordance  with  a 
list  they  had  carefully  prepared.  And  every  little  while, 
just  as  a  workman  was  about  to  lug  away  a  package,  a  Red 
Cross  man  would  appear  beside  him  with  a  tin  cup  of  hot 
coffee,  a  brace  of  doughnuts  and  adroit  counsel :  "  Wait 
a  minute ;  try  some  of  this  and  then  perhaps  you'll  be 
strong  enough  to  lift  two  packages  !  3  Never  did  the  "  Fly- 
ing Squadron  "  men  relax  in  their  determination  to  make 
friends  wherever  they  went.  They  helped  the  workers  lift, 
load  and  trundle  the  crates  aboard  ship,  they  were  first  up 
and  last  to  turn  in.  "  Don't  you  ever  get  tired?'  an 
American  sergeant  asked  one  of  them.  "  Don't  have 
time !  '  was  the  succinct  reply.  Indeed,  the  fatigueless 
energy,  efficiency  and  general  good  humor  of  the  Squadron 


310  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

so  completely  won  over  the  British  port  authorities  that 
the  Squadron  leader  was  permitted  to  have  a  key  to  the 
wharf  gates  and  all  the  rights  and  privileges  appertain- 
ing thereto.  That  key  proved  to  be  worth  much  more 
than  its  weight  in,  well,  in  platinum.  It  was  so  valuable 
that  no  one  outside  of  the  favored  circle  even  knew  of  its 
existence. 

In  their  own  inexorable  season,  the  twenty-four  ap- 
pointed hours  for  loading  supplies  on  the  troopship  came 
to  an  end  —  but  the  work  did  not.  It  went  on  and  on,  with 
the  stores  still  arriving.  On  the  morning  of  August  21st, 
the  British  port  officials  notified  the  British  Bed  Cross 
that  no  more  shipments  could  be  received  at  the  pier  after 
noon  of  that  day.  Accordingly,  at  that  hour,  the  flow  of 
goods  from  the  British  organization  ceased.  But  through 
error  of  some  sort  the  American  Red  Cross  was  not  simi- 
larly notified,  and,  in  the  absence  of  any  official  order, 
it  continued  to  rush  supplies  to  the  docks.  Such  instruc- 
tions as  were  given  to  the  men  in  charge  of  the  trucks 
came  from  the  "  Flying  Squadron ''  in,  or  about  in,  these 
terms :  "  Keep  on  coming  and  coming  fast  until  we 
throw  up  our  hands.  Then  if  there's  anything  left  you 
can  lug  it  back  to  the  Bed  Cross  warehouse." 

When  the  ship  steamed  away  from  her  moorings  not  one 
ounce  of  American  Red  Cross  supplies  failed  to  get  aboard. 
And  this  was  due  entirely  to  the  unconquerable  "  Fly- 
ing Squadron."  Although  every  department  in  the  Bed 
Cross  had  done  its  admirable  share  in  providing,  packing 
and  delivering  the  stores,  it  was  the  Squadron  that  got 
them  on  the  ship.  It  meant  four  long  days  and  late  nights 
of  labor,  and  if  the  reader  wonders  what  the  Squadron  did 
for  sleeping  quarters  during  that  period,  he  may  be  told, 
with  pride  in  the  telling,  that  its  members  slept  in  ham- 
mocks swung  in  their  covered  motor  trucks! 

After  loading,  the  transports  at  Boyal  Albert  and  Til- 
bury Docks  proceeded  to  Newcastle-on-Tyne,  where,  on 
Sunday  afternoon,  August  29th,  the  American  troops  em- 


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WITH  THE  ARMY  TO  ARCHANGEL  311 

barked  to  begin  the  voyage  to  Russia.  Those  in  this  first 
expedition  were  the  330th  Infantry,  Colonel  George  E. 
Stewart  commanding;  1st  Battalion  310th  Engineers, 
Lieutenant  Colonel  P.  S.  Morris;  337th  Field  Hospital, 
Major  J.  H.  Longley,  and  the  Medical  Department  of  the 
339th  Infantry,  Captain  J.  C.  Hall.  As  the  Red  Cross 
had  permission  to  send  a  representative  with  the  Expedi- 
tionary Force,  Captain  W.  II.  Winn  was  chosen  in  this 
capacity  by  the  Commission  for  Great  Britain  and  went 
aboard  the  transport  Somali,,  which  carried  Colonel  Stewart 
and  his  staff.  The  narrative  of  events  which  followed, 
both  during  the  voyage  and  in  Russia,  is  taken  gratefully 
and  liberally  from  Captain  Winn's  diary. 

When  the  ship  arrived  off  Kola  Inlet  the  transport  Tsar, 
with  1,500  Italian  troops  aboard,  silently  withdrew  from 
the  convoy  and  went  into  Murmansk,  as  nine  of  her  detach- 
ment had  died  of  the  "  flu  ' '  and  a  large  number  were  on 
the  sick-list.  Erom  the  White  Sea  it  required  forty-eight 
hours  to  reach  the  mouth  of  the  Dvina  River,  near 
Economy,  which  is  the  winter  port  of  Archangel,  and 
about  two  hours  from  the  city  proper. 

As  the  convoy  passed  Economy  and  entered  the  river, 
with  its  winding  channel  and  innumerable  sand-bars,  the 
troops  caught  their  first  glimpse  of  typical  Xorth  Russian 
country  in  September.  The  land  lay  flat  and  marshy 
around  them,  covered  for  the  most  part  with  a  scrubby 
tamarack  growth.  Fringing  the  river  on  both  sides  were 
endless  lines  of  saw-mills,  their  operatives  mainly  women 
who  gathered  in  groups  on  the  banks  to  stare,  displaying 
no  great  enthusiasm  for  the  cheerful  greetings  flung  to 
them  by  the  soldiers.  Finally  the  regimental  band  on  the 
Somali  struck  up  an  irresistible  air  and  this  brought  an  oc- 
casional wave  of  hand  or  handkerchief  from  the  curious 
crowds  ashore. 

Rounding  a  point  in  the  river  and  swinging  into  the 
wide  harbor  at  last  gave  the  men  a  view  of  Archangel, 
the  metropolis  of  the  Russian  Northland,  with  its  flashing 


312  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

white  spires  and  domes,  its  towering  cathedral  and  large 
public  buildings.  There  was  something  unreal  about  the 
city,  particularly  to  those  in  the  expedition  who  had 
thought  to  find  the  rough  log-huts  of  a  Klondike  camp. 
Aside  from  its  high,  substantial  structures,  it  seemed  to 
be  of  great  size,  to  stretch  for  an  amazing  distance  along 
the  waterside.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  Archangel  has  only 
length;  its  width  is  just  enough  to  provide  one  main 
thoroughfare.  It  is  a  populated  shelf  on  the  brink  of  a 
river.  Behind  it,  only  a  few  hundred  feet  away,  lies  a 
morass,  an  interminable,  sinister  swamp. 

When  the  Somali  went  in  she  was  met  by  two  high- 
circling  aeroplanes  while  the  Allied  craft,  moored  off  the 
principal  quay,  fired  a  salute  in  honor  of  Colonel  Stewart. 
She  continued  to  a  point  opposite  the  center  of  the  city, 
followed  by  the  convoy,  and  dropped  anchor  there  about 
noon  on  September  3rd.  Then  followed  the  usual  official 
formalities  after  which  the  Somali  was  towed  up  the  river 
to  a  wharf  at  Bakaritza,  directly  in  front  of  the  Archangel 
Monastery  Church,  the  gaudiest  piece  of  architecture  in  all 
Northern  Russia,  where  the  debarkation  of  the  troops  oc- 
curred two  days  later. 

Much  apprehension  had  prevailed  during  the  last  two 
days  of  the  voyage,  owing  to  the  spread  of  influenza 
among  the  troops.  The  Somali's  hospital  was  crowded  to 
overflowing  and  additional  sick  beds  had  to  be  improvised 
aboard.  Manv  of  the  officers  were  ill  with  it  and  one  en- 

i/ 

listed  man  died  on  the  day  of  arrival.  Conditions  on  the 
other  ships,  which  were  towed  later  to  Bakaritza  to  land 
their  men,  were  found  to  be  practically  identical.  This 
made  it  necessary  that  the  Red  Cross  supplies  for  the 
sick  should  be  available  without  delay,  and  for  three  days 
Captain  Winn  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  getting  them 
ashore.  The  total  shipment  of  110  tons  was,  in  that  time, 
carried  to  land  and  placed  in  a  shed  under  heavy  guard. 

In  the  meantime,  despite  all  that  could  be  done,  the 
"  flu '  had  spread  rapidly  among  the  soldiers  and  was 


WITH  THE  ARMY  TO  ARCHANGEL  313 

beginning  to  develop  into  a  particularly  virulent  form  of 
pneumonia  from  which  recovery  was  a  long  and  difficult 
process.  Major  Langley,  who  was  detailed  as  Chief  Sur- 
geon, was  stricken  with  it  as  were  several  other  officers 
of  his  corps.  When  two  battalions  of  the  troops  were  sent 
to  the  front,  taking  their  quota  of  medical  officers,  it  created 
a  lamentable  shortage  of  doctors  for  Bakaritza  and  Arch- 
angel. 

"  As  there  'was  only  one  hospital  prepared  for  us  when 
we  arrived,"  Captain  Winn  wrote,  "  and  as  that  proved 
inadequate  to  meet  our  emergency,  temporary  hospital  ac- 
commodation had  to  be  improvised  at  Bakaritza  to  com- 
bat the  rapid  spread  of  the  disease  among  our  troops. 
When  the  "  flu  ' '  began  to  go  into  pneumonia  and  we  were 
losing  men  every  day,  it  was  discovered  that  the  sick  be- 
ing sent  to  the  hospital  at  Bakaritza  were  there  compelled 
to  lie  on  a  kind  of  board  shelving,  instead  of  being  fur- 
nished with  beds.  The  building  had  been  taken  over  only 
a  few  days  before  for  hospital  purposes,  its  original  use 
being  that  of  barracks  for  Russian  soldiers. 

"  WTith  this  discovery,  I  hurried  to  G.  H.  Q.  at  Arch- 
angel and  reported  it  to  the  British  Assistant  Director 
of  Medical  Services-— all  phases  of  army  control  were 
under  the  British  —  stating  that  I  knew  he  would  agree 
with  me  in  the  necessity  for  remedying  such  a  situation, 
adding  that  if  he  could  provide  the  beds,  I  had  the  motor 
transport  waiting  at  the  door  to  go  get  them,  and  that  I 
would  arrange  for  their  immediate  shipment  to  Bakaritza. 
He  at  once  telephoned  to  a  British  hospital  and  ordered 
twenty-five  beds  turned  over  to  me.  By  good  luck  I  was 
able  to  get  a  tug  boat  from  the  Russian  River  Transport 
Department  and  had  them  shipped  to  Bakaritza  that  after- 
noon. Later  the  board  shelving  was  torn  out  and  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  canvas  cots  constructed  to  answer  all 
needs. 

"  Four  days  after  our  arrival  some  one  left  a  note  for 
me  at  Headquarters  saying  that  there  was  a  building  in 


314  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

the  Troitski  Prospekt,  the  principal  street  of  Archangel, 
which  had  been  used  as  a  Russian  Red  Cross  Hospital  and 
that  the  Sister  in  charge  wished  to  see  me  in  reference  to 
turning  it  over  to  the  American  Red  Cross  in  the  present 
emergency.  Calling  there  that  afternoon  with  an  inter- 
preter, I  found  a  very  clean  and  attractive  institution 
of  the  bungalow  type,  presided  over  by  a  Sister  Superior 
of  the  Russian  Red  Cross  and  six  or  seven  nurses  or 
novitiates  of  that  organization. 

"  The  Sister  Superior,  or  head  nurse,  as  we  afterward 
called  her,  said  that  she  had  come  from  Moscow  before 
the  Revolution  and  established  the  hospital  for  the  benefit 
of  Russian  soldiers  of  the  old  regime ;  that  the  Bolsheviki, 
when  they  had  possessed  themselves  of  Archangel  early 
in  the  spring,  had  looted  the  institution  of  nearly  all  the 
furniture  of  value,  taken  away  almost  all  of  the  surgical 
instruments  and  appliances,  even  the  kitchen  parapher- 
nalia, and  ordered  that  no  more  soldiers,  save  Bolsheviki, 
should  be  received  and  that  disobedience  would  mean 
annihilation.  She  added  that  since  that  time  her  faith- 
ful band  had  led  to  a  hand-to-mouth  existence,  living  upon 
what  could  be  raised  in  a  wretched  little  garden  and 

D 

what  else  their  friends  could  spare.  To  the  American 
Red  Cross  she  offered  the  entire  institution,  without  com- 
pensation of  any  kind,  provided  only  that  she  and  her 
nurses  be  permitted  to  remain  and  help  in  the  hospital 
work.  She  was  so  cheerful,  notwithstanding  her  pathetic 
difficulties,  that  the  offer  was  immediately  accepted,  Col- 
onel Stewart  approving,  on  the  basis  of  protection  for  these 
kind  and  courageous  women  and  a  means  of  attending  the 
pressing  needs  of  our  troops.  So  I  arranged  for  the  for- 
mal opening  of  the  hospital  under  the  auspices  of  the 
American  Red  Cross  on  the  following  morning. 

'  The  regimental  band  and  a  squad  of  men  were  de- 
tailed to  parade  at  the  hospital  for  the  flag-raising  cere- 
mony and  it  was  not  lacking  in  a  certain  impressiveness. 
The  Colonel,  unfortunately,  could  not  be  present,  but  he 


WITH  THE  ARMY  TO  ARCHANGEL  315 

sent  Major  Ely  to  represent  him,  and  this  officer  and  Cap- 
tain Hall,  acting  Chief  Surgeon  during  Major  Longley's 
illness ;  Captain  Griger,  ranking  Dental  Surgeon ;  Lieu- 
tenant Allen,  Dentist ;  the  Head  Xurse  and  her  half-dozen 
Russian  novitiates  and  the  detail  of  men  all  stood  at  at- 
tention while  the  band  played  "  The  Star  Spangled 
Banner '  as  I  raised  the  American  and  Red  Cross  flags 
over  the  institution,  taking  it  over  formally  in  the  name 
of  the  American  Red  Cross.  The  street  beyond  the  hos- 
pital yard  was  crowded  with  curious  Russians,  and  some 
of  our  men  who  could  speak  their  language,  told  them 
what  it  was  all  about.  A  guard  was  placed  before  the 
building,  and  Captain  Hall,  taking  charge  at  once,  began 
putting  the  house  in  order.  Captain  Griger  moved  his 
dental  outfit  into  one  of  the  front  rooms  and  by  noon  the 
little  hospital  had  started  on  what  proved  to  be  a  very 
useful  career. 

"  Captain  Hall  was  delighted  with  the  opportunity  to  de- 
velop an  institution  in  that  region  along  American  lines. 
The  cooking  in  the  British  hospital  to  which  most  of  our 
men  had  been  sent  from  the  Clearing  Stations  was  not 
to  American  taste.  Every  one  of  our  sick  men  tried  to 
get  into  the  hospital  so  it  was  expanded,  by  a  well-studied 
rearrangement,  to  a  capacity  of  forty  beds. 

"  It  was  at  first  designed  to  be  maintained  primarily 
for  officers,  but  conditions  made  this  at  once  impracticable. 
On  the  second  day  a  man  was  brought  in  with  pneumonia 
from  Olga  Barracks  at  the  other  end  of  the  street  where 
the  Headquarters  Company  lived,  who  was  so  ill  that  Cap- 
tain Hall  did  not  think  he  could  have  survived  if  it  had 
been  necessary  to  take  him  to  the  British  hospital  three 
miles  away  over  incredibly  rough  roads.  The  next  day  an- 
other man  was  brought  in  in  the  same  condition,  and  for 
two  days  these  men  hung  between  life  and  death.  The 
name  of  the  first  man  was  Cooper.  I  do  not  recall  that 
of  the  second,  but  I  had  the  extreme  satisfaction  of  coming 
out  of  Russia  with  both  of  these  men  who  were  being  in- 


316  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

valided  to  their  homes  in  Michigan.  By  reason  of  the 
smallness  of  the  hospital  it  was  possible  to  give  the  patients 
better  personal  attention  and  food  than  in  the  larger  in- 
stitutions, and  our  place  was  referred  to  among  the  sol- 
diers as  "  the  best  one  in  North  Russia  to  get  sick  in ! ' 

"  As  the  influneza  epidemic  continued,  men  who  were 
only  slightly  affected  and  others  with  whom  the  disease  had 
run  its  course,  were  turned  out  of  the  hospitals.  Some  re- 
turned to  their  regular  units  but  many,  particularly  those 
in  the  hospitals  at  Bakaritza,  were  temporarily  sent  to  the 
Supply  Company's  barracks,  where  there  was  extra  room. 
But  there  was  no  way  to  provide  a  special  staff  in  these 
quarters,  which  was  a  necessity  for  men  in  such  condition. 
In  their  behalf,  therefore,  a  search  of  the  city  was  made 
for  a  suitable  building  in  which  to  establish  a  convalescent 
hospital.  Many  public  or  semi-public  buildings  were  con- 
sidered but  for  good  reasons  were  rejected  one  after  an- 
other. However,  temporary  quarters  for  our  convalescents 
were  made  by  shifting  some  of  the  Russians  and  Czecho- 
slovaks from  buildings  they  occupied.  Meantime,  a  suit- 
able location  was  decided  upon,  but  the  transfer  of  Russian 
soldiers  occupying  it  to  other  places  and  the  cleaning  and 
repair  of  the  structure  required  a  great  deal  of  effort  and 
patience.  When  the  time  came  for  the  renovation  of  this 
building,  Major  Longley  had  recovered  from  his  illness 
sufficiently  to  supervise  this  part  of  the  work. 

"  To  understand  the  difficulties  encountered  in  trying  to 
developed  anything  in  Archangel,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind 
that  the  Bolsheviki,  when  they  took  control  of  the  city  pre- 
vious to  the  Allied  occupation,  either  destroyed  or  carried 
away  from  the  shops  and  houses  everything  they  thought 
could  be  of  value  to  them.  Many  of  the  stores  had  only 
the  semblance  of  a  stock  of  wares.  Articles  of  furniture, 
hardware,  or  tableware  were  almost  unobtainable  at  any 
price.  In  consequence,  to  secure  for  our  hospitals  the  very 
simplest  requirements  meant  a  tremendous  amount  of  time 
and  effort.  A  great  deal  of  ingenuity  was  necessary  to 


WITH  THE  ARMY  TO  ARCHANGEL  317 

make  the  few  things  obtainable  serve  other  uses  than  those 
for  which  they  were  designed.  Kite-lion  utensils,  for  ex- 
ample, were  not  to  be  found.  Fortunately  we  were  aided 
by  discovering  a  Russian  with  a  genius  for  making  pots 
and  pans  out  of  sheet  iron  and  he  solved  the  hardest  prob- 
lems incidental  to  equipping  the  convalescent  hospital 
kitchen  so  that  it  could  provide  good  American  food  in 
sufficient  quantity. 

"  We  had  landed  about  5,000  strong  in  a  place  already 
filled  to  overflowing,  where  there  \vas  only  the  most  meagre 
supply  of  things  necessary  for  the  needs  of  the  civilian 
population  alone.  To  care  for  and  properly  h'ouse  our  sick 
demanded  every  possible  effort  of  the  Medical  Corps,  much 
work  on  'the  part  of  the  Engineers  and  all  my  time  in  be- 
half of  the  Red  Cross  for  every  hour  of  the  first  three 
weeks.  It  was  not  until  then  that  the  ravages  of  the  dis- 
ease were  checked.  The  total  loss  of  life  suffered  bv  our 

i/ 

Force  amounted  to  sixty-five  men,  including  one  officer. 
This  period  of  almost  daily  funerals  had  a  most  depressing 
effect  upon  the  troops  stationed  in  Archangel. 

"  Major  Longley  having  now  recovered  and  the  forma- 
tive days  of  the  Medical  Department  being  past,  it  now  be- 
came necessary  to  find  a  permanent  and  convenient  place 
for  the  Red  Cross  supplies  on  hand  and  those  expected  soon 
to  arrive  in  the  next  convoy.  The  fine  shop  of  the 
Archangel  branch  of  a  Riga  rubber  concern  in  the  Troitski 
Prospekt  was  finally  selected.  As  the  manager  had  sold 
out  practically  all  his  goods  and  could  get  no  more  shipped 
to  him,  he  was  glad  to  turn  his  place  over  to  the  American 
Red  Cross.  On  account  of  the  large  amount  of  canned 
fruit  in  the  first  Red  Cross  consignment  and  the  prospect  of 
much  more  in  the  next  one,  it  was  imperative  that  the 
building  be  heated  during  the  severe  winter  weather.  The 
Troitski  offices  comprised  six  rooms  fitted  with  eight  Rus- 
sian ovens  or  stoves  and  was,  furthermore,  in  the  center  of 
the  business  portion  of  Archangel.  Therefore  it  was  un- 
doubtedly the  best  place  for  the  purpose  in  the  city. 


318  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

"  Moving  the  supplies  from  the  improvised  warehouse 
in  Bakaritza  to  the  store  rooms  in  Archangel  involved 
nearly  every  difficulty  to  be  met  in  a  region  in  which  labor 
details,  lorries  and  river  transportation  were  extremely 
hard  to  obtain.  It  required  labor  details  and  lorries  at 
both  ends  and  a  tug  boat  or  barge  for  river  transport  in  the 
middle.  The  synchronization  of  all  these  into  one  continu- 
ous movement  involved  much  that  was  annoying  at  the  time 
and  highly  amusing  after  it  was  accomplished.  A  detail 
consisting  of  a  sergeant  and  four  men  was  provided  by 
Major  Longley  to  help  with  the  stores.  In  the  Ambulance 
Company  of  the  Expedition  were  four  men,  who,  before 
entering  the  army,  had  been  professional  entertainers  and 
had  afforded  much  diversion  for  the  troops  both  during  the 
voyage  and  later  in  quarters.  These  men  also  were  as- 
signed to  my  detail  for  the  double  purpose  of  assisting 
with  the  supplies  and  of  working  up  entertainment  features 
for  the  dreary  winter  months.  It  was  planned  to  take 
them  out  with  stores  for  the  various  detachments  and  let 
them  give  a  concert  at  the  same  time.  They  called  them- 
selves '  The  Jazz  Quartette  '  and  were  very  enthusiastically 
received  wherever  they  went. 

"  There  were  two  principal  fighting  fronts  in  the 
Archangel  district,  one  down  the  railroad  about  eighty 
miles  to  the  southward,  and  the  other,  and  more  important, 
Dvina  Front,  180  miles  away  in  the  same  direction.  In 
each  of  these  sectors  we  had  about  1,500  officers  and  men. 
Those  on  the  river  front  were  expected  to  be  snowed  in  and 
the  line  of  communication  for  supplies  cut  off  when  the 
river  froze,  except  for  the  comparatively  small  amount  that 
could  be  sent  in  when  sledge  lines  were  established.  As 
the  Dvina  usually  closed  tight  between  the  12t-h  and  21st 
of  October,  extreme  effort  was  being  made  by  the  army  to 
provide  this  detachment  swiftly  with  everything  needed 
for  the  winter." 

After   a   meeting  of   the   Allied   military   authorities, 
Colonel  Banting,  Quartermaster  of  the  Expedition,  notified 


WITH  THE  ARMY  TO  ARCHANGEL  310 

Captain  Winn  that  all  arrangements  had  been  made  for  the 
land  and  WUUT  transportation  of  America  Red  Cross  sup- 
plies for  these  troops  on  the  Dvina  Front  on  October  1st. 
However,  on  the  very  day  that  this  notice  was  given,  the 
steamship  Ascutney  arrived  unexpectedly  at  Archangel 
with  an  American  Red  Cross  Commission  aboard.  It 
came  empowered  to  take  over  all  military  and  civilian  re- 
lief in  Western  Russia,  which  included  that  already  afoot 
in  and  about  Archangel.  Therefore,  into  its  hands  Cap- 
tain Winn  promptly  delivered  all  Red  Cross  stores,  all 
data  concerning  work  accomplished  or  contemplated,  to- 
gether with  the  mass  of  valuable  information  his  experi- 
ence had  given  to  him,  and  on  October  28th  he  set  sail  for 
England  to  rejoin  the  Commission  there.  In  concluding 
his  diary  Captain  Winn  wrote: 

"  The  steamer  on  which  I  sailed  from  Archangel  carried 
seventy-one  enlisted  men  who  were  being  invalided  home. 
We  went  to  Murmansk  and  remained  more  than  two  weeks 
aboard  the  ship.  About  forty-five  of  the  men  were  trans- 
ferred to  the  U.  S.  S.  Olympic  and  taken  to  England. 
We,  too,  were  transferred  to  another  vessel  and  after  wait- 
ing nine  more  days  finally  got  away.  When  we  reached 
England,  after  a  stormy  voyage,  we  had  been  five  weeks 
coming  from  Archangel." 

As  Captain  Winn  had  been  the  representative  in  North- 
ern Russia  of  the  Red  Cross  Commission  for  Great  Britain 
—  which  was  the  pioneer  relief  agent  in  that  distant  re- 
gion —  his  return  to  England  terminated  its  connection 
with  the  work  of  caring  for  the  American  soldiers  in  the 
Archangel  war  zone.  What  was  afterward  done  there  is, 
obviously,  not  a  part  of  this  narrative. 

A  second  expedition  to  Archangel  was  organized  in 
September,  1918,  and  when  the  time  came  to  load  the  sup- 
plies the  army  conceded  the  prowess  of  the  "  Ely  ing  Squad- 
ron ?  on  the  first  memorable  occasion.  It  asked  that  the 
Red  Cross  men  make  sure  that  all  American  Army  stores 
were  loaded  along  with  the  Red  Cross  supplies.  The  fact 


320  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

that  the  former  were  scattered  over  six  or  eight  different 
points  along  the  water  front  made  the  task  of  the  Squadron 
infinitely  more  difficult  but  it  collected  them  all  and  put 
them  aboard  the  transport.  So  far  as  the  Eed  Cross  goods 
were  concerned,  the  work  in  this  instance  was  far  easier, 
owing  to  a  greater  time  allowance  for  preparation  and 
stowage.  But  their  volume  was  much  increased,  one  entire 
shed  at  the  Royal  Albert  Docks  being  filled  from  floor  to 
ceiling  with  this  shipment. 

On  the  eve  of  the  departure  of  the  second  expedition, 
one  of  the  medical  officers  who  had  been  working  in  close 
cooperation  with  the  Commission  suggested  that  the  Red 
Cross  should  prepare  some  sort  of  propaganda  pamphlet  or 
leaflet  for  circulation  in  North  Russia.  He  had  informa- 
tion that  the  Russians  at  Archangel  were  very  friendly 
toward  the  Americans,  but  that  there  existed  considerable 
regrettable  ignorance  among  the  peasant  classes  as  to  ex- 
actly what  the  Americans  were  doing  in  the  war.  It  was 
a  matter  of  common  knowledge  that  Germany  had  con- 
ducted an  elaborate  and  vigorous  propaganda  campaign 
throughout  Russia  to  the  detriment  of  the  United  States 
and  the  other  Allies.  It  was  evident  that  an  excellent 
opportunity  for  the  distribution  of  an  American  propa- 
ganda pamphlet  would  be  presented  as  soon  as  the  Red 
Cross  representatives  accompanying  the  expedition  should 
reach  Archangel. 

Although  the  time  was  perilously  short,  the  Red  Cross 
engaged  the  services  of  a  competent  Russian  translator  and 
gathered  a  large  amount  of  material  from  the  speeches  and 
messages  of  President  Wilson  and  from  other  available  and 
pertinent  documents,  showing,  first,  what  the  war  situation 
was  at  that  time ;  second,  what  the  United  States  had  done 
and  intended  to  do,  and  third,  a  fraternal  message  to  the 
Russian  people.  All  this  was  carefully  prepared  and 
20,000  copies  of  the  leaflet  were  printed  in  the  Russian 
language  before  the  expedition  sailed.  The  elapsed  time 


WITH  THE  ARMY  TO  ARCHANGEL  321 

from  the  first  sncrirostion  of  this  work  to  the  time  of  the 

OO 

expedition's  departure  was  less  than  fifty-six  hours ! 

Later  in  the  year,  three  large  shipments  of  supplies  were 
made  to  Copenhagen,  consisting  mainly  of  foodstuffs  for 
Russian  prisoners  in  Germany.  The  first  shipment  left 
London  on  October  23rd,  the  second  on  November  18th  and 
the  third  at  the  very  beginning  of  January.  An  idea  of 
what  these  cargoes  contained  may  be  obtained  from  the  list 
of  articles  sent  on  November  18th  which  included,  among 
other  things,  8,000  cases  of  pork  and  beans,  2,000  cases  of 
biscuits,  1,500  cases  of  bread,  1,200  cases  of  roast  beef,  800 
cases  of  oatmeal,  667  cases  of  corned  beef,  800  cases  of 
flaked  fish  and  800  cases  of  corned  beef  hash. 

The  first  of  these  shipments  comprised  1,543  cases 
weighing  115,454  pounds,  the  second  totaled  8,563  cases 
and  the  third  weighed  more  than  2,000  tons,  occupied  the 
hold  of  an  entire  ship  and  was  valued  at  $750,000. 

During  the  latter  part  of  1918  two  consignments  of  sup- 
plies were  sent  to  Gibraltar  for  the  use  of  the  American 
sailors  at  the  naval  base  there,  one  arriving  at  Thanksgiv- 
ing time  and  the  other  just  before  Christmas. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE    UNBREAKABLE    LINK    WITH    "  HOME  ' 

ONE  of  the  clauses  of  the  charter  of  the  American  Red 
Cross  designates  it  as  "  a  medium  of  communication 
between  the  people  of  the  United  States  and  their  Army 
and  Navy,"  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  sixteen  words  were 
ever  before  employed  to  describe  an  obligation  so  varied,  so 
far-reaching,  so  important.  It  does  not  minimize  the  rec- 
ord of  any  department  in  the  organization  to  say  that 
largely  through  the  fulfillment  of  this  obligation  did  the 
people  at  home  in  America  realize  that  the  Red  Cross  was 
always  at  hand  to  take  care  of  their  boys,  wherever  they 
might  be  and  whatever  their  needs. 

It  was  a  personal  task  as  distinguished  from  the  many 
valuable  impersonal  services  the  Red  Cross  rendered,  and 
one  whose  value  was  beyond  reckoning.  It  must,  of  its 
nature,  deal  individually  and  personally  with  the  soldier 
or  sailor  and  his  family  and  concern  itself  more  or  less 
intimately  with  his  affairs.  Your  soldier  and  sailor  are  — 
they  will  admit  it  themselves  -  -  "not  much  on  letter  writ- 
ing 7  and  inclined  to  let  cruelly  long  intervals  elapse  be- 
tween the  letters  which  were  so  fervently  promised  "  once 
a  week  at  least."  It  was  not  a  conscious  neglect  nor  was  it 
general  but  it  was  none  the  less  hard  upon  the  anxious 
ones  at  home  who  had  to  bear  it.  The  contributory 
agencies  of  interference  with  letters  were  manifold;  the 
thoughtless  indifference  of  youth,  its  'absorbing  interest  in 
new  scenes,  new  conditions,  unexpected  troop  movements, 
illness,  death  —  these  are  a  few  of  them. 

According  to  the  excellent  rule  of  "  Mind  Your  Own 
Business,"  it  was,  speaking  generally,  no  concern  of  the 

322 


THE  UNBREAKABLE  LINK  WITH  "  HOME  "      323 

Red  Cross  whether  a  man  wrote  or  did  not  write  to  his 
family.  One  circumstance  alone  made  it  Red  Cross  busi- 

c/ 

ness,  this,  when  his  family,  having  no  word  from  or  of 
him  for  weeks,  even  months,  besought  the  Red  Cross  to 
find  out  what  the  silence  meant.  The  character  of  their 
letters  will  be  quite  well  conveyed  by  the  following  letter, 
written  from  Massachusetts  and  taken  at  random  from  the 
files  of  the  Service : 

"  I  am  writing  you  to  ask  if  you  can  find  out  where  my 
nephew  is  or  something  about  him.  He  enlisted  with  the 
American  Army  and  the  last  letter  I  had  from  him  was 

shortly  after  his  arrival  in  England.  His  name  is  . 

I  am  afraid  something  has  happened  to  him ;  please  find  out 
something  for  me.  I  will  wait  anxiously  for  your  reply." 

A  request  like  this  was  all  that  was  needed  to  set  the 
entire  machinery  of  the  department  in  motion,  to  remain 
so  until  the  person  sought  had  been  found  and  the  last, 
least  inquiry  of  his  family  answered.  In  the  case  just 
cited,  the  Service  was  able  to  reply  two  days  later  that  the 
soldier  was  safe  and  sound,  on  duty  in  a  camp  in  Great 
Britain  and  that  he  had  written  his  aunt  a  letter  forty- 
eight  hours  before  the  Home  Communication  officer  had 
called  upon  him. 

This  was  a  comparatively  easy  bit  of  work,  but  as  there 
were  countless  instances  of  this  kind,  involving  many  long 
searches,  sixteen  words  are  little  enough  to  employ  in 
summing  it  up. 

In  many  cases  the  man  whom  the  Service  went  out  to 
seek  was  found  to  be  well  -  -  and  often  not  a  little 
chagrined  when  told  that  his  family  wanted  to  hear  from 
him,  as  his  neglect  had  so  completely  escaped  him.  In 
other  cases  he  was  found  in  hospital,  too  ill  to  write  or  pre- 
vented from  doing  so  by  a  wound.  And  sometimes  tragedy 
or  the  shadow  of  it  -  -"  missing  '  -  was  the  thing  upon 
which  the  department  searchers  would  at  last  come,  in  their 
tireless  questing.  But,  whatever  the  answer  chanced  to 
be,  the  Red  Cross  never  failed  to  send  some  word  to  far 


324  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

America.  Often  the  soldier  or  sailor  himself  wrote  it, 
in  other  cases  one  of  the  women  of  the  Care  Committee, 
which  gave  so  much  aid  in  this  branch  of  work,  would  sit 
at  the  side  of  a  hospital  cot  and  write  at  the  dictation  of  the 
sick  or  wounded  man  upon  it,  or  even  write  without  his 
knowledge  picking  out  her  letter  with  such  fragments  of 
personality  as  he  might  haltingly  have  revealed  to  her  in  a 
brighter  day. 

Sometimes  the  representative  of  the  Service  would  write 
to  the  anxious  ones  at  home  just  to  let  them  see  how  much 
interest  was  being  taken  in  "  their  boy,"  and  that  the  Red 
Cross  was  unflagging  in  its  attentions  to  those  for  whose 
aid  and  comfort  it  really  existed.  Such  a  letter  as  this 
was  sent  to  a  town  in  the  Middle  West,  from  a  south  of 
England  hospital,  by  one  of  the  searchers  of  the  Service: 

Dear  Mrs.  : 

I  called  here  yesterday  to  see  your  son  who  is  in  hospital 
here.  I  found  him  almost  entirely  recovered,  with  rosy  cheeks 
and  bright  eyes,  and  apparently  quite  happy.  He  has  been  re- 
ceiving the  very  best  attention  and  will  continue  to  do  so  until 
he  is  quite  well. 

I  understand  that  your  son  has  been  writing  you  regularly, 
but  I  am  sending  this  letter  as  I  know  how  mothers  are  apt 
to  worry  about  their  boys,  and  I  thought  you  would  like  to 
hear  from  me  that  your  son  is  getting  along  so  well.  By  the 
time  you  receive  this  he  will  probably  be  entirely  recovered  and 
out  of  hospital. 

I  would  like  to  mention  that  if  at  any  time  you  need  advice 
or  assistance  you  have  only  to  apply  to  the  branch  of  the  Ameri- 
can Red  Cross  which  is  nearest  your  home  to  receive  at  once 
every  assistance  which  is  possible. 

It  is  instances  of  this  kind  which  show  how  personal  this 
work  was,  how  human  and  how  necessary. 

The  Home  Communication  Service  of  the  Red  Cross  in 
Great  Britain  was  instituted  early  in  April,  1918,  under 
Captain  Herbert  Edenborough.  At  that  time  there  had 
been  comparatively  few  American  troops  in  England,  so, 


THE  UNBREAKABLE  LINK  WITH  "  HOME  "      325 


in  the  beginning,  there  was  little  work  save  that  of  organi- 
zation and  preparation.  But  every  minute  of  this  was 
needed  for  the  task  to  come.  For,  from  the  time  the 
service  was  in  practical  operation  until  its  work  virtually 
ended-  -  this  being  the  period  from  May  1,  1918,  to  Feb- 
ruary 28,  1919-  -more  than  112,000  reports  were  made 
to  Red  Cross  Headquarters  in  Washington  concerning 
Americans  -  -  military,  naval  and  civilian.  At  one  time 
there  were  17,000  Ajnericans  in  hospital  in  Great  Britain, 
6,000  of  these  being  in  British  institutions  to  which  the 
Service  had  access  at  all  times  for  the  purposes  of  visit- 
ing and  inquiry.  Every  one  of  the  men  in  hospital  be- 
came, automatically,  a  charge  of  the  Service  and  every 
one  was  visited  and  questioned  and  his  case  reported  to 
the  authorities  at  home.  The  family  or  nearest  friend 
of  each  man  was  notified  of  his  illness  or  wound,  his  con- 
dition and  whereabouts  —  the  latter  as  nearly  as  mili- 
tary censorship  would  permit  —  and,  more  than  that,  each 
was  carefully  followed  during  his  entire  stay  in  hospital, 
his  transfers  and  his  convalescence  and  kept  in  touch  with 
his  home  throughout  it  all.  At  the  conclusion  of  its  work, 
the  Service  had  60,000  such  cases  in  detail  on  file  in  its 
archives. 

Some  idea  of  the  progress  of  the  Home  Communication 
work  may  be  gathered  from  the  following  figures:  Dur- 
ing the  first  three  months  in  England  reports  were  made 
on  about  5,000  cases,  1,000  of  which  were  cases  in  which 
special  reports  were  made  and  a  special  dossier  opened. 
During  the  second  three  months,  ending  on  September 
30,  1918,  about  20,000  cases  were  handled,  of  which  about 
4,000  were  cases  involving  special  reports.  During  the 
three  months  ending  December  31st,  reports  were  made 
on  30,000  cases  of  which  8,000  were  special  cases.  In 
many  of  the  special  cases  above  referred  to,  there  were 
inquiries  to  be  made  in  many  quarters  and  a  voluminous 
correspondence  in  connection  therewith.  An  "  ordinary 
case,"  in  the  terminology  of  the  Service,  was  one  in  which 


326  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

it  was  possible  to  tabulate  the  information  as  to  what  had 
happened  to  a  boy,  in  list  form  on  a  printed  blank.  The 
"  special  cases  '  were  those  which  necessitated  detailed 
reports  and  investigation  and  inquiry  in  various  quarters. 

When  a  soldier  was  discovered  to  be  so  ill  or  so  wounded 
as  not  to  be  able  to  write  for  himself,  minute  data  were 
sent  to  Washington  at  short  intervals,  which  would  make 
it  possible  for  Headquarters  to  dispatch  frequent  letters 
to  his  relatives  telling  them  how  his  case  was  progressing. 

There  were,  of  course,  many  instances  in  which  these 
soldiers  died  in  hospital  in  England  and  then  came  the 
saddest  duty  of  the  Home  Communication  Service,  that 
of  sending  this  news  to  the  ones  at  home.  It  was  always 
done  by  a  worker  on  the  spot,  one  who  had  known  the 
man  during  his  illness  or  at  least  known  something  about 
him.  This  worker  gathered  all  possible  details  concern- 
ing his  last  days  and  then  wrote  such  a  letter  as  the  fol- 
lowing, which,  by  the  way,  is  an  authentic  one,  taken  from 
the  records  of  the  Service: 

My  dear  Mrs.  : 

Your  name  has  been  given  to  me  as  the  nearest  relative  of 
,  but  through  some  mischance  I  do  not  know  your  relation- 
ship to  him.  After  all,  it  matters  very  little,  for  no  doubt  he 
was  dear  to  you,  and  it  is  my  hope  that  I  may  be  able  to  give 
you  some  details  of  his  last  illness,  which  may  not  have  been 
conveyed  to  you  in  the  official  announcement  of  his  death  which 
you  have  already  received. 

He  was  in  the  American  Red  Cross  Hospital  for  a  minor 
ailment,  but  was  taken  desperately  ill  about  noon  of  the  30th. 
He  had  been  up  and  about  that  morning,  but  towards  noon 
was  taken  with  convulsions,  became  unconscious  and  remained 
so  until  he  died  about  five  o'clock  on  the  31st.  An  autopsy 
revealed  the  cause  of  death  to  be  meningitis. 

Other  men  in  the  ward  had  not  known  him  well,  for  he  had 
only  been  there  a  day  or  two,  but  they  have  told  me  that  he 
received  a  letter  at  the  hospital  from  a  relative  in  California 
containing  some  photographs,  which  pleased  him  very  much. 

I  am  sorry  to  have  no  more  details  to  give  you,  but  the  sud- 
denness of  his  illness  makes  it  impossible.  He  was  buried  to- 
day, from  the  hospital  chapel,  the  service  being  conducted  by  the 


THE  UNBREAKABLE  LINK  WITH  "HOME"      327 

Rev. .     The  coffin  was  covered  with  an  American  flag  and 

a  lovely  bunch  of  lilacs  and  carnations  given  by  the  hospital 
committee.     I  enclose  a  spray  of  flowers  from  the  coffin. 

The  Home  Communication  Service  of  the  Red  Cross  extends 
to  you  its  sincerest  sympathy  and  hopes  that  the  particulars 
which  I  have  been  able  to  give  will  in  some  measure  soften  the 
blow  which  has  come  to  you. 

Here  is  a  letter  written  to  the  mother  of  a  boy  who 
lost  his  life  from  injuries  received  in  the  torpedoing  of  a 
transport : 

Dear  Mrs.  : 

On  hearing  of  the  unfortunate  torpedoing  of  the  transport 
carrying  the  regiment  of  which  your  son  was  a  member,  I  at 
once  hastened  to  the  port  where  the  survivors  had  been  landed, 
arriving  there  on  the  night  of  the  24th.  Early  the  next  morn- 
ing I  heard  of  the  injuries  which  your  son  had  received  and  was 
grieved  to  learn  later  that  he  died  during  the  night,  but  I 
thought  it  would  be  a  comfort  to  you  if  I  visited  the  hosiptal 
and  learned  all  I  could  as  to  his  death. 

I  talked  for  some  time  to  the  doctor  and  orderly  who  had 
cared  for  your  son.  The  doctor  told  me  that  everything  possible 
had  been  done  to  save  his  life,  but  unfortunately  without  avail; 
the  hospital  had  very  few  patients  at  the  time  and  he  had 
therefore  been  able  to  give  this  case  the  closest  personal  atten- 
tion. 

I  think  you  will  like  to  hear  that  in  the  short  time  your  son 
was  in  the  hospital  he  endeared  himself  to  those  with  whom  he 
came  in  contact.  They  spoke  with  admiration  of  his  fortitude, 
but  what  struck  them  most  was  his  great  consideration  for 
others.  He  spoke  of  you  several  times  and  grieved  that  he  would 
probably,  because  of  his  injury,  not  be  so  useful  on  the  farm 
when  he  returned  home. 

You  will  be  glad  to  know  that  the  doctor  was  able  to  save  your 
son  all  pain.  He  was  unconscious  at  the  end  and  therefore  was 
not  able  to  send  you  any  message,  which  he  would  undoubtedly 
have  done  otherwise. 

At  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  wearing  a  signet  ring  which 
will  be  forwarded  to  you.  Unfortunately  all  his  other  effects 
were  lost  when  the  ship  was  torpedoed. 

You  may  like  to  hear  that  your  son's  fellow  patients  in  the 
hospital  were  officers  and  men  of  the  British  warship  Vindictive, 
about  which  you  have  no  doubt  read  in  the  papers  recently ;  they 
all  expressed  great  sorrow  for  his  death. 


328  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

Your  son  was  buried  with  full  military  honors  in  the  mili- 
tary cemetery  here.  Flowers  were  given  by  officers  and  men  of 
his  regiment.  The  cemetery  is  situated  in  a  beautiful  spot  on 
a  hill  overlooking  the  sea,  and  the  grave  will  always  be  cared  for 
by  the  Red  Cross  and  military  authorities.  It  was  decorated 
by  the  American  Red  Cross  on  Memorial  Day.  Later  on  we  will 
have  a  photograph  of  it  sent  to  you. 

By  way  of  showing  the  appreciation  that  was  felt  for 
this  intensely  human  side  of  Red  Cross  work,  it  is  not 
amiss  to  quote  a  letter  in  reply  which  came  to  it  from 
Texas: 

Just  received  your  sad  letter  of  the  7th  of  October  telling  me 
of  the  death  of  my  dear  boy.  It  is  hard,  indeed,  to  give  him 
up,  but  a  consolation  to  know  that  the  Red  Cross  had  him  in 
its  care  in  his  last  hours.  I  feel  that  you  did  everything  that 
could  be  done  for  him  and  it  is  a  comfort  to  us  to  know  that. 
I  would  like  you  to  send  me  a  photograph  of  his  grave  and  tell 
me  how  it  is  marked,  how  it  will  be  cared  for  and  also  if  I  could 
be  allowed  to  do  anything  for  it. 

You  must  know  that  this  is  great  sorrow  to  his  old  mother 
and  myself,  but  we  bow  in  humble  submission  to  God's  Will, 
knowing  that  our  boy  gave  his  life  for  the  noblest  of  causes. 
But,  oh,  it  is  so  hard  —  just  a  young  man,  twenty-four  years 
old.  It  seemed  that  he  was  just  entering  a  life  of  usefulness, 
but  he  is  only  one  among  thousands  cut  down  in  their  prime. 

Words  are  inadequate  to  express  our  gratitude  to  you  and  to 
the  others  of  the  Red  Cross,  but  we  are  thankful,  far  more  than 
we  can  tell,  for  what  you  did  for  our  only  child  and  for  your 
kind  words  to  us. 

Although  the  greater  part  of  the  work  of  the  Home 
Communication  Service  was  in  connection  with  keeping 
the  sick  and  wounded  men  in  touch  with  their  people 
in  the  States,  the  almost  limitless  scope  of  the  Service  re- 
sulted in  bringing  to  it  many  strange  requests  for  help 
•and,  therefore,  carried  its  activities  far  afield.  One,  for 
instance,  came  from  the  family  of  a  man  born  in  Turkey 
of  Greek  parentage,  educated  in  an  American  institution 
in  the  Near  East  and  resident  in  Turkey  at  the  outbreak 


THE  UNBREAKABLE  LINK  WITH  "HOME"      329 

of  the  war.  This  man  had  been  forced,  against  his  will 
into  the  Turkish  service.  He  was  afterward  captured 
by  the  British  and  held  a  prisoner  in  Palestine.  Rela- 
tions of  his,  residing  in  the  United  States,  did  not  wish 
him  returned  to  Turkey  when  he  should  be  released,  but 
asked  if  the  Red  Cross  could  not  have  him  sent  to  America. 
The  Service  approached  the  British  War  Office  with  this 
request  and  was  advised  of  a  method  by  which  this  rather 
irregular  proceeding  might  be  carried  out,  and  in  time, 
it  was  effected. 

At  another  time  the  Service  was  requested  by  a  family 
in  America  to  find  two  young  girls,  sisters,  who  had  gone 
to  England  and  of  whom  all  trace  had  been  lost  by  their 
relatives.  The  information  given,  upon  which  to  begin 
such  a  search,  was  both  conflicting  and  incorrect  —  and 
England  was  a  large  country.  But  the  Red  Cross 
managed  at  last  to  discover  them  both.  While  one  was 
found  to  be  in  domestic  service  in  England,  the  other  was 
attached  to  the  British  Forces  in  France  a«nd  both  were 
well  and  in  good  circumstances  as  the  Service  hastened 
to  report. 

American  soldiers  in  France  frequently  asked  the  Red 
Cross  to  locate  their  relatives  in  England.  One  soldier 
wrote  that  he  had  not  heard  from  his  father  for  several 
years,  when  he  had  written  from  a  certain  address  in  the 
East  End  of  London.  Inquiry  at  this  address  led  to  a 
series  of  addresses  and  eventually  to  the  father  himself, 
who  had  not  known  whether  his  son  was  alive  or  dead. 
In  this  way  they  were  brought  together  to  their  mutual 
delight.  A  much  more  difficult  task  was  imposed  by  a 
soldier  from  California  who,  about  to  go  to  England 
on  leave,  wanted  to  visit  the  relations  of  his  step-mother. 
All  he  knew  about  her  was  her  name  —  a  not  at  all  un- 
common surname  —  and  that  her  people  lived  in  or  near 
London.  This  was  a  problem  for  Sherlock  Holmes ! 
However  the  Red  Cross  went  modestly  to  work  and  not 
only  found  the  step^mother  but  made  arrangements  for 


330  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

the  soldier's  visit.  This  tracing  business  came  to  be  one 
of  the  standard  tasks  of  the  Home  Communication  bureau 
and  it  was  often  asked  to  locate  people  who,  before  the 
war,  had  lived  in  foreign  countries  and  become  lost  to 
their  American  relatives  when  hostilities  turned  Europe 
topsy-turvy.  Sometimes  it  received  and  delivered  special 
messages  from  America  for  individual  soldiers  or  sailors, 
such  messages  generally  referring  to  the  death  of  a  rela- 
tive, or  some  other  subject  of  greait  personal  importance. 
Also  it  took  on  the  work  of  finding  scores  of  Americans 
who  had  enlisted  in  the  British  or  French  armies  before 
America  entered  the  war  and  was  instrumental  in  numer- 
ous cases  in  having  them  repatriated.  One  of  the  letters 
it  received  in  this  relation  was  from  a  city  in  Virginia. 
It  ran : 

I  am  writing  to  learn  the  condition  of  my  son,  Lieutenant 
,  an  American  in  the  Canadian  Army.  I  received  a  mes- 
sage six  weeks  ago  saying  he  was  in  an  American  hospital  in 
London,  convalescent  and  able  to  walk  about.  Is  he  still  pro- 
gressing? I  know  it  will  be  a  long  time  before  he  will  be  able 
to  walk  well,  but  I  would  like  to  know  if  there  are  any  compli- 
cations and  if  his  general  health  is  good.  I  will  be  very  grate- 
ful to  you  if  you  will  write  me  fully  about  his  exact  condition. 

The  Eed  Cross  replied  that  this  officer,  who  had  suffered 
a  compound  fracture  of  both  legs,  had  been  granted  six 
months'  leave  and  was  expected  to  sail  almost  immediately 
for  home. 

In  its  "  detective  ' '  role,  the  Service  once  or  twice  came 
into  contact  with  obvious  enemy  propaganda.  This  was 
widespread  in  America  when  the  Communication  Bureau 
began  its  work  and  all  sorts  of  false  reports  were  being 
circulated  with  the  object  of  making  Germany  feared. 
In  one  instance  it  was  stated,  with  all  the  authority  which 
rumors  assumed,  that  an  American  dentist  and  his  entire 
family  had  been  killed  in  the  wreck  of  their  home  dur- 
ing an  aerial  bomb  raid.  What  the  Service's  investigation 
disclosed  was  -  -  the  dentist  in  his  office,  his  waiting-room 


THE  UNBREAKABLE  LINK  WITH  "HOME"      331 

full  of  patients.  No  bomb  had  ever  dropped  within  miles 
of  his  home.  At  another  time  it  was  reported  in  several 
communities  in  the  States  that  American  soldiers  in  Eng- 
land had  been  court-martialed  and  shot  for  certain  grave 
offenses.  The  Red  Cross,  to  whom  these  reports  were  sent, 
gave  the  matter  into  the  hands  of  the  Communication 
Service  with  the  result  that  the  soldiers  said  to  have  been 
executed  were  found  to  be  alive  and  on  duty,  and,  further- 
more, without  a  blemish  on  their  records. 

NOT  does  this  exhaust  the  list  of  unusual  but  valuable 
services  this  Red  Cross  Bureau  rendered.  It  encountered 
boys  in  hospital  who,  having  been  thus  separated  from 
their  units,  were  without  pay  and  at  once  arranged  that 
their  requirements  in  this  respect  be  fulfilled,  much  to 
their  comfort  and  relief.  It  remitted  to  America  thou- 
sands of  dollars  for  soldiers  and  sailors  who  wished  their 
savings  sent  home  and  asked  the  Red  Cross  to  attend  to  it 
for  them.  It  hunted  up  mail  for  soldiers  in  hospital 
when  the  army  authorities  had  failed,  through  lack  of 
proper  notice,  to  forward  it.  It  even  busied  itself  obtain- 
ing full  particulars  about  babies  and  small  children  for 
persons  in  America  who  desired  to  adopt  orphans  and 
foundlings  who  were  then  in  England,  aud  forwarded 
complete  instructions  as  to  how  this  might  be  legally  and 
properly  accomplished. 

An  interesting  incident  is  worth  recording  in  connec- 

o  o 

tion  with  a  facsimile  lithographed  letter  which  was  given 
to  American  soldiers  upon  their  arrival  in  England.  This 
letter,  in  the  handwriting  of  His  Majesty  King  George 
and  signed  by  him,  welcomed  American  soldiers  to  British 
soil.  Hundreds  of  them  were  sent  home  as  souvenirs, 

with  the  result  that  in  some  instances,  when  the  bovs  were 

i/ 

not  heard  from,  the  relatives  forthwith,  wrote  to  the  King 
himself,  asking  him  to  take  steps  to  have  their  boys  traced 
and  to  perform  other  little  acts  in  their  behalf.  Receipt 
of  these  letters  was  always  courteously  acknowledged  from 
Buckingham  Palace  to  the  relatives  and  the  letters  were 


332  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

then  passed  on  to  the  Home  Communication  Service  for 
its  information  and  attention. 

Narration  of  the  work  of  the  personnel  of  this  Service 
is  incomplete  if  it  does  not  refer  to  the  courage  and  loyalty 
of  all  who  served.  During  the  influenza  epidemic,  the 
work  was  suddenly  more  than  quadrupled.  This,  under 
ordinary  circumstances,  would  have  been  a  sufficiently 
difficult  situation  to  handle,  but  it  was  rendered  doubly 
so  by  the  fact  that  at  least  half  the  Department's  workers 
became  ill  from  the  same  cause.  Those  that  were  left, 
however,  worked  as  they  had  never  worked  before.  All 
who  were  able  stuck  to  their  posts  and  worked  night  and 
day  as  long  as  human  endurance  would  permit.  The 
workers  in  the  hospitals  deserve  especial  credit.  Where  it 
was  allowed,  they  went  among  the  patients  in  wards  at 
great  personal  risk  and  carried  on  their  labors  as  in 
ordinary  cases.  In  this  connection  it  should  be  mentioned 
that  all  the  Red  Cross  workers  in  hospitals  have  invariably 
visited,  when  permitted  to  do  so,  cases  even  of  a  com- 
municable nature,  if  the  case  was  serious  and  a  soldier's 
life  in  danger,  so  that  he  might  send  a  message  to  his  rela- 
tives on  the  other  side.  This  duty  was  never  shirked  in 
the  history  of  the  Red  Cross  in  Great  Britain. 

The  proper  prosecution  of  a  service  so  extensive  —  be- 
cause it  was  the  determination  of  the  Red  Cross  that  no 
American  soldier  or  sailor  in  hospital  in  Great  Britain 
should  fail  to  receive  every  attention  and  that  his  family 
should  have  word  of  him  as  soon  as  he  arrived  there  — 
necessitated  both  a  large  working  staff  and  the  establish- 
ment of  special  branch  offices  in  all  the  hospital  centers 
in  the  Kingdom.  These  were  at  Liverpool,  Winchester, 
Portsmouth,  Paignton,  Dartford,  Tottenham,  Southamp- 
ton, Birmingham  and  Edinburgh.  They  represented 
either  great  base  hospitals  or  places  from  which  it  was 
possible  easily  to  reach  hospitals  in  their  vicinity.  In 
the  case  of  distinctly  British  institutions  which,  from 
time  to  time,  received  American  sick  or  wounded,  the 


THE  UNBREAKABLE  LINK  WITH  "  HOME  »      333 


Service  relied  upon  the  British  and  Canadian  Red  Cross 
which  were  prompt  to  send  word  of  American  arrivals. 
At  the  time  the  Service  reached  its  maximum  of  effective- 
ness, and  this  was  within  a  very  short  time  of  its  incep- 
tion, it  had  representatives  in  every  American  Red  Cross, 
Base  and  Camp  hospital,  and  in  every  British  hospital 
to  which  American  sick  or  wounded  were  taken.  Its 
workers  numbered  nearly  four  hundred. 

In  its  search  for  missing  men  —  for  this  was  another 
task  assumed  by  the  Service — the  hospitals  were  of  great 
aid.  A  list  of  "  missing '  was  published  twice  a  month 
by  the  military  authorities  and  a  copy  of  this  was  given 
to  each  of  the  searchers  to  bo  checked  up  with  the  list 
of  all  Americans  in  hospital  in  Great  Britain.  A 
searcher  notes,  for  instance,  that  John  Smith  of  the  —  -th 
Regiment  is  reported  missing.  Reference  to  the  hospital 
list  shows  that  James  Jones  of  the  same  regiment  is  in 
such  and  such  an  institution,  so  an  immediate  visit  is  paid 
to  James  Jones  and  he  is  asked : 

"  Did  vou  ever  know  a  man  in  your  regiment  named 
John  Smith  ?  " 

"  Sure  I  did,"  Jones  replies.  "  I  knew  him  well,  a  little 
fellow  with  sandy  hair  —  some  boy,  too !  ' 

With  this  as  a  hopeful  preface  the  searcher  will  pro- 
ceed to  find  out  whether  Jones  was  in  the  same  action 
in  which  Smith  was  reported  missing,  and  whether  Jones 
saw  Smith  during  the  fight  that  day  or,  particularly,  after 
it  was  all  over.  Then  Jones  replies  that  he  saw  him 
blown  to  pieces  or  taken  prisoner  or  wounded  or  has  no 
knowledge  whatever  of  Smith  beyond  that  he  was  still 
fighting  when  he  himself  was  wounded  early  in  the  en- 
gagement and  sent  to  the  rear.  If  Jones  has  not  served 
to  settle  the  question  of  Smith,  other  men  of  the  same 
regiment  are  subsequently  found  and  interrogated,  or  per- 
haps some  one  in  a  different  organization  may  have  seen 
him  and  disclose  what  happened  to  him.  By  this  means 
it  was  possible,  very  often  to  determine  definitely  the 


334  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

fate  of  men  listed  "  missing/'  and  fortunately  now  and 
then  they  were  found,  wounded  but  alive,  in  some  distant 
hospital.  Then  the  Red  Cross  had  indeed  a  letter  to 
write  home! 

Quite  aside  from  its  hospital  activities,  the  Service 
had  much  to  do  with  American  prisoners  of  war.  It  was 
inevitable  that  certain  information,  rumors,  reports  about 
such  prisoners  should  filter  into  Great  Britain  and  at  first 
principally  as  to  officers  of  the  United  States  Medical 
Corps  who  had  been  attached  to  the  British  Army  and 
been  captured  during  the  German  advance  in  the  spring 
of  1918.  Later,  news  came  through  as  to  American 
prisoners  generally.  All  such  information  .the  Service 
could  obtain  was  carefully  collected  and  sent  to  that  Red 
Cross  aid  center  at  which  it  would  prove  of  most  value 
in  behalf  of  the  prisoner  or  persons  in  question.  This 
frequently  resulted  in  the  interests  of  these  unfortunates 
being  cared  for  much  sooner  than  otherwise  would  have 
been  the  case.  It  often  happened  that  prisoners  so  helped 
through  the  indirect  agency  of  the  Home  Communication 
Service  would  turn  up  later  in  London  where  the  Red 
Cross  officers  would  invariably  produce  the  documents  in 
relation  to  their  cases  and  permit  the  soldiers  to  read  them. 
They  were  always  interested  in  the  manner  in  which  the 
Red  Cross  had  discovered  and  taken  care  of  them,  and 
were  unfailing  in  their  appreciation  of  the  steps  which 
had  been  taken  to  see  that  their  families  were  provided 
with  all  possible  news  as  to  their  welfare  while  in  prison 
camps  and  that  they  had  been  supplied  with  proper  cloth- 
ing, food  and  other  comforts. 

After  the  signing  of  the  Armistice  about  600  American 
soldiers  and  civilians  were  repatriated  through  England. 
In  all  of  these  cases  the  Home  Communication  depart- 
ment met  the  men  and  obtained  information  from  them 
as  to  the  camps  in  which  they  had  been  held,  their  present 
state  of  health,  where  they  were  going,  their  next  of  kin 
in  America  and  any  message  which  they  wished  sent  to 


THE  UNBREAKABLE  LINK  WITH  "HOME"     335 

their  people.  Having  done  this,  the  Red  Cross  cabled 
all  the  details  to  Washington  for  the  benefit  of  the  rela- 
tives of  the  prisoners.  As  can  be  easily  understood,  some 
of  these  cables  were  very  long  indeed.  One,  for  example, 
occupied  five  sheets  of  quarto  paper.  Besides  sending  the 
data  to  Washington,  the  Red  Cross  supplied  information 
in  connection  with  these  arrivals  to  the  Headquarters  of 
the  Army  and  of  the  Navy,  to  the  American  Red  Cross 
in  Paris,  to  the  Red  Cross  Prisoners  of  War  Committee 
in  Berne,  and,  in  the  case  of  civilians,  to  the  American 
Consul  General  in  London. 

In  pursuance  of  instructions  from  "  G.  H.  Q.,"  the 
Home  Communion  Service  undertook  the  long  task  of 
registering  and  photographing  the  graves,  of  the  2,500 
American  soldiers  buried  in  Great  Britain  and  arranging 
for  the  erection  of  suitable  crosses  above  them.  Copies  of 
these  photographs  will  in  time  be  sent  by  the  Red  Cross 
to  the  families  of  the  men.  The  Red  Cross  photogra- 
phers entrusted  with  this  extensive  work  were  requested 
to  report  upon  the  general  state  of  all  these  widely  scat- 
tered cemeteries  —  there  is  one,  containing  a  single  grave, 
on  a  bleak  island  off  the  Scottish  coast  -  -  so  that  if  any  of 
them  be  not  in  a  condition  befitting  the  resting  place  of 
American  dead,  steps  may  be  taken  to  rehabilitate  them 
without  delay. 

"  Home  Service/7  as  distinct  from  "  Home  Communica- 
tion," as  it  dealt  with  all  matters  at  home  which  were  a 
cause  of  anxiety  or  worry  to  the  American  soldiers  over- 
sea, was  another  personal  task  of  the  Red  Cross.  A  large 
number  of  the  cases  to  which  it  attended  concerned  allot- 
ments and  the  welfare  of  the  families  of  soldiers  in  the 
United  States.  Many  cases  related  to  lack  of  news  from 
home  on  account  of  missed  or  strayed  mail,  which  the 
Bureau  often  successfully  traced  and  delivered.  It  was 
also  consulted  in  many  business  matters,  some  involving 
litigation,  some  the  practical  disposition  of  property  and 
the  adjustment  of  commercial  affairs. 


336  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

It  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  cite  a  few  cases  which 
have  an  especial  appeal  to  the  sympathies:  One  soldier, 
a  native  of  a  European  country  but  later  naturalized  as 
an  American,  had  left  in  the  country  of  his  birth  a  wife 
and  five  small  children.  He  was  abruptly  informed  that 
his  wife  had  died  and  also  that  money  he  had  forwarded, 
and  which  he  supposed  his  family  was  receiving,  had  never 
reached  its  destination.  His  troubles  were  further  com- 
plicated by  the  ordering  home  of  his  unit.  Probably  he 
was  the  only  man  in  it  for  whom  this  was  not  the  best 
of  news,  but  the  thought  of  leaving  his  small  children 
destitute  and  unprotected  in  Europe  made  his  situation 
distressing.  The  Red  Cross,  through  the  Home  Service 
Bureau,  represented  the  state  of  affairs  to  the  army  author- 
ities, who  were  willing,  under  the  circumstances,  to  trans- 
fer this  soldier  to  a  unit  which  was  to  remain  in  England 
for  the  time  being.  Also  the  Bureau  communicated  with 
the  American  Consul  in  the  city  nearest  that  in  which 
the  children  lived  and,  by  endorsing  the  soldier's  applica- 
tion for  a  furlough,  enabled  him  to  see  them  and  arrange 
for  their  care  until  he  should  be  able  to  send  for  them 
to  join  him  in  America. 

Another  soldier  was  told  of  the  death  of  his  wife  in  the 
United  States,  which  left  their  small  daughter  homeless. 
Through  Washington  headquarters,  the  Bureau  turned  the 
matter  over  to  a  local  Red  Cross  Chapter  which  under- 
took the  proper  care  of  the  little  child. 

Several  marital  problems  were  brought  to  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Bureau,  involving  property  interests  and  vari- 
ous personal  perplexities.  One,  for  example,  was  that  of  a 
soldier  who  heard  that  his  wife  had,  in  his  absence,  di- 
vorced him,  or  tried  to  do  it,  had  married  again  and  sold 
her  half  interest  in  their  real  estate.  He  wanted  infor- 
mation regarding  the  validity  of  such  a  divorce  and  advice 
upon  his  property  situation,  all  of  which  was  forthwith 
given  to  him. 

Through  the  excellent  organization  of  Home  Service 


THE  UNBREAKABLE  LINK  WITH  "HOME"      337 

work  in  the  United  States,  matters  of  this  kind  had  the 
attention  of  lawyers  representing  the  local  Chapters  and 
the  men,  whose  troubles  were  thus  taken  care  of,  were 
made  more  efficient  soldiers  and  sailors  because  of  their 
knowledge  that  their  affairs  were  in  the  competent  hands 
of  the  American  Red  Cross. 


CHAPTER  XX 

A  SOLDIER'S  JOKE  —  AND  WHAT  CAME  OF  IT  ! 

AMERICANS,  of  all  the  peoples  of  the  earth,  have, 
probably,  the  keenest  interest  in  what  may  compre- 
hensively be  called  "  the  news."  It  is  an  insatiable  crav- 
ing to  know  "  what's  going  on '  anywhere,  everywhere. 
In  the  great  cities  of  America,  new  editions  of  their  news- 
papers succeed  one  another  almost  hourly  throughout  the 
day.  Express  trains  catch  them  up  as  they  come  from 
the  presses  and  speed  them  in  all  directions  for  hundreds 
of  miles.  The  smaller  communities  rely  upon  these  edi- 
tions to  supplement  their  own  less  pretentious  but  no  less 
important  journals.  Editors  lie  awake  o'  nights  devising 
plans  whereby  they  may  hasten  publication  and  distribu- 
tion of  the  news  which  flows  in  ceaselesslv  from  the  cable, 

t/ 

the  telegraph  line  and  the  myriad  other  sources  of  supply. 
Americans  read  newspapers  everywhere,  in  trains,  street- 
cars and  subways,  in  their  own  motors,  even  in  the  street 
as  they  walk.  And  countless  thousands  of  them  read,  not 
merely  one  favorite  paper  a  day,  but  three  or  even  four, 
determined  evidently,  that  not  one  scrap  of  appealing 
information  shall  escape  them. 

This  may  be  a  national  "  habit,"  fostered,  perhaps,  by 
the  newspapers  themselves.  But,  confirmed  in  it,  as 
Americans  are,  what  was  more  natural  than  that  the 
American  soldiers  who  arrived  in  England  should  feel 
themselves  quite  cut  off  from  the  sort  of  news  which  most 
interested  them.  To  a  conspicuously  large  majority  of  the 
troops  this  meant  events  in  their  own  home  regions,  local 

politics,  baseball  scores,  boxing  results  and  news  of  the 

338" 


A  SOLDIER'S  JOKE --AND  WHAT  CAME  OF  IT!     339. 

great  training  camps  in  the  States.  For,  it  must  be  re- 
membered, these  American  soldiers  were  not  alone  drawn 
from  the  so-called  sophisticated  centers,  but  also  from  the 
far  more  numerous  inconspicuous  communities,  whose 
horizon  lay  just  at  the  village  outskirts. 

In  their  new  surroundings  -  -  so  dismayingly  new  to 
most  of  them  -  -  they  could  get  the  English  newspapers,  of 
course,  but  in  supplying  their  needs  these  were  about  as 
valuable  as  a  Babylonian  brick.  What  English  newspaper 
would  at  any  time,  even  in  peace  days,  devote  space  to 
—  well,  to  a  World  Series  ?  It  just  isn't  done. 

Those  who  have  a  wider  interest  in  affairs  and  those 
who  stayed  at  home  may,  thoughtlessly,  consider  this 
slight  deprivation  in  view  of  what  the  soldier  must  expect 
when  he  goes  to  war.  But  it  was  a  deprivation,  none  the 
less,  and  markedly  accentuated  the  distance  which  lay  be- 
tween him  and  "  home."  And  an  army  physician  will 
tell  you  that  "  homesickness '  was  one  of  the  chief  ills 
his  corps  encountered  among  even  the  most  rugged  of  our 
troops. 

This  isolation,  so  to  speak,  of  the  Americans  was  brought 
to  the  attention  of  the  Red  Cross  by  a  fortunate  little 
incident  which  happened  in  June,  1918,  at  Morn  Hill,  in 
Hampshire,  or  "  Hants,"  if  you  will,  where  there  was  an 
American  Rest  Camp  and  a  large  Camp  Hospital.  At  the 
time  there  were  several  thousand  soldiers  in  the  camp 
on  their  way  to  France  and  about  250  men  in  hospital. 
In  the  course  of  an  inspection  tour  of  the  camp.  Captain 
Frank  M.  America,  of  the  Red  Cross  staff  in  London, 
was  asked  by  one  of  the  soldiers,  with  proverbial  American 
curiosity,  what  his  particular  "  job '  with  the  Red  Cross 
happened  to  be.  Captain  America  replied  that  he  was 
Director  of  Information. 

"  Well,  couldn't  you  direct  a  little  information  about 
Winsted,  Connecticut,  down  here?'  was  the  instant  in- 
quiry. "  I  don't  even  know  if  it's  still  on  the  map, 
honest."  Then,  drawing  a  crumpled  English  newspaper 


340  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

from  the  breast  of  his  shirt,  the  soldier  spread  it  out  and 
added,  with  the  emphasis  of  despair: 

"  Say,  I've  been  reading  these  things  for  three  weeks 
and  I'm  wearing  out  my  eyes  looking  for  news.  Why, 
they  could  burn  the  old  red  barn  and  kill  the  cat  and 
everything  and  I  wouldn't  know  anything  about  it  till  I 
got  a  letter  next  Christmas.  And  the  Giants  and  the  Cubs 
and  the  Red  Sox;  say,  they're  all  dead  if  you  go  by  this 
paper !  Take  it  from  me,  if  you  want  to  help  people  down 
here  just  shoot  along  a  little  news  once  in  a  while,  tell  us 
something  about  what's  going  on  in  God's  country,  'cause 
it's  a  long  way  from  here." 

The  appeal  was  irresistible  and  was  repeated  in  varying 
degrees  of  vehemence  by  half  a  dozen  or  more  of  the  men 
in  both  camp  and  hospital.  They  wanted  their  kind  of 
news. 

And  what  was  true  of  Morn  Hill  was  true  of  many 
similar  spots  in  England  and  Scotland,  for  the  American 
troops  were  coming  in  to  build  and  equip  camps  and  avia- 
tion bases  in  half  a  hundred  out-of-the-way  places.  The 
men  were  not  then  arriving  in  great  numbers  but  there 
were  200  or  300  mechanics  and  student  aviators  at  every 
one  of  these  stations.  In  addition,  there  were  in  hospitals 
throughout  England  hundreds  of  wounded  Americans  who 
had  fought  with  either  the  British  or  the  Canadians  be- 
fore their  own  country's  entry  into  the  conflict,  and  to 
many  of  these  the  States  mu&t  have  seemed  as  far  off  as 
the  moon. 

Captain  America,  a  newspaper  man  in  New  York  for 
many  years,  who  came  into  the  Red  Cross  Commission 
from  the  London  Bureau  of  the  Associated  Press,  had 
learned  a  short  time  before  that  the  United  States  Com- 
mittee on  Public  Information  received  a  budget  of  news 
each  day  by  wireless  from  America.  It  had  been  collected 
from  every  State  in  the  Union  and  a  considerable  part  of 
it  was  the  very  kind  of  news  the  soldiers  so  eagerly 
wanted.  As  nearly  all  the  English  news  journals,  through 


A  SOLDIER'S  JOKE --AND  WHAT  CAME  OF  IT!      341 

scarcity  of  paper,  had  been  reduced  in  size  to  two  pages 
and  as  the  chronicle  of  the  war  took  precedence  over  every- 
thing else,  there  was,  frankly,  no  room  in  them  for  dis- 
tinctively American  news  even  had  the  editors  been  in  the 
habit  of  publishing  it. 

And  all  of  this  is  by  way  of  preface  to  the  birth  of  The 
Daily  News  Bulletin  of  the  American  Red  Cross,  for  it 
came  into  the  world  the  day  after  Captain  America's  visit 
to  Morn  Hill.  Arrangements  were  made  whereby  the 
daily  wireless  service  became  available  and  on  the  morn- 
ing of  July  20th,  1918,  the  Bulletin  first  lifted  up  its 
small  voice  in  the  hubbub  of  the  world.  And  by  way 
of  answer  to  the  soldiers'  yearning  for  news  of  "  what's 
going  on  in  God's  country/'  it  submitted,  among  others, 
these  items,  the  first  of  which  was  the  leading  article : 

Chicago,  July  17  —  The  Chicago  Nationals  today  beat  Phila- 
delphia 2  to  1  in  a  game  which  lasted  21  innings.  It  was  the 
longest  game  of  the  season  and  within  one  inning  of  the  Na- 
tional League  record  game  of  22  innings  played  between  Brook- 
lyn and  Pittsburgh  in  1917.  The  American  League's  record 
game  was  24  innings  between  Boston  and  Philadelphia  in  1916. 

San  Francisco,  July  19  —  Mayor  James  Rolff  today  an- 
nounced his  candidacy  for  the  Republican  nomination  for 
Governor. 

New  York,  July  19  —  The  new  Lexington  Avenue  subway  was 
opened  for  service  here  to-day. 

New  York,  July  19  —  News  of  the  American-French  offensive 
has  been  received  with  great  enthusiasm  throughout  the  United 
States.  Cheering  crowds  have  gathered  everywhere  and  news- 
papers have  been  sold  as  fast  as  the  presses  could  turn  them  out. 
In  Wall  Street  business  is  suspended  whenever  any  war  newg 
arrives  over  the  tickers. 

In  this  first  Daily  Bulletin  there  were  nine  news  items 
in  all,  the  others  relating  mainly  to  war  activities  in 
America.  It  was  a  single  sheet  of  paper,  a  bit  larger 
than  ten  by  seven  inches  with  a  printed  Red  Cross  heading 


342  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

in  red,  "  run  off :  on  an  old-fashioned,  inconvenient 
duplicating  machine,  the  only  kind  available  at  the 
moment  in  all  London.  By  dint  of  time  and  labor,  250 
copies  were  procured  early  enough  to  catch  the  mail  trains 
which  would  insure  their  delivery  that  day  at  such  rea- 
sonably near  points  as  Southampton,  Winchester,  and 
Liverpool.  The  Red  Cross  camp  and  hospital  repre- 
sentatives to  whom  they  were  dispatched  were  requested 
to  distribute  them  "  as  long  as  they  last."  Copies  were 
also  sent  by  messenger  to  all  the  London  hospitals  in  which 
there  were  American  soldiers. 

The  effect  that  this  small  and  not  very  well  dressed 
journalistic  child  produced  was  practically  instantaneous. 
Within  two  days  letters  began  fluttering  into  London  Head- 
quarters in  comment  and  compliment  and  every  last  one 
of  them  asked  that  such  and  such  a  number  of  copies 
be  sent  daily  to  the  undersigned  without  fail,  as  the  men 
had  all  save  eaten  the  first  issue.  One  soldier  in  the  Red 
Cross  hospital  at  Mossley  Hill,  in  Liverpool,  wrote: 

"  It  isn't  a  Chicago  Sunday  newspaper,  but  out  here  it  looks 
like  one  to  me.  That  stuff  about  the  Cubs  is  O.  K.  You  don't 
have  to  guess  that  I'm  from  Chi." 

News  of  the  publication  of  the  Daily  Bulletin  ran  from 
camp  to  camp,  from  hospital  to  hospital  throughout  Great 
Britain  with  an  unbelievable  speed.  As  the  days  went 
on,  more  letters  arrived,  from  both  army  and  navy,  ask- 
ing that  scores  of  stations  and  bases  be  put  on  the  mailing 
list.  One  was  from  Admiral  Sims'  headquarters,  another 
from  the  Duke  of  Sutherland,  who  said  he  knew  of  no  other 

/ 

way  in  which  to  get  American  news  promptly;  still  an- 
other came  from  Rear  Admiral  Philip  Andrews,  in  com- 
mand of  the  American  naval  coaling  station  and  mine- 
sweeping  base  at  Cardiff,  in  Wales.  The  American 
Chamber  of  Commerce  in  London  asked  that  it,  too,  be  in- 
cluded in  the  list,  while  a  fifth  letter  was  signed  by  the 
senior  medical  officer  of  a  British  Military  Hospital  who 


A  SOLDIER'S  JOKE --AND  WHAT  CAME  OF  IT!      343 

asked  in  the  name  of  a  number  of  wounded  Americans  in 
his  care.  The  Daily  Bulletin  had  suddenly  achieved  the 
importance  of  a  metropolitan  journal! 

After  its  fourth  appearance,  when  paper  in  sufficient 
quantity  had  become  available,  this  news  urchin  increased 
in  size  overnight,  outgrowing  his  clothes  and  lengthening 
out  to  a  sturdy  youngster  of  thirteen  inches,  but  with  the 
same,  unmistakable  red  head.  He  was  enabled  now  to 
carry  considerably  more  news  to  the  camps  and  hospitals. 

Nor  was  his  amazing  growth  in  the  length  of  his  coat 
alone.  During  the  twelve  days  of  July  -  -  for  the  Bul- 
letin, throughout  its  life,  appeared  with  equal  promptness 
on  Sundays  -  -  the  total  number  of  copies  issued  was 
less  than  two  thousand.  In  August,  by  the  aid  of  printed 
address  labels  and  a  duplicating  machine  capable  of  pro- 
ducing 3,000  impressions  an  hour,  it  was  possible  to  sup- 
ply a  demand  for  thirty  thousand  copies.  In  September 
the  number  rose  to  fifty  thousand  and  in  October  leaped 
to  a  total  "  sworn  circulation  '  for  the  month  of  more 
than  seventy-five  thousand  copies !  And  it  was  only  a 
little,  one-page  news  sheet,  printed  from  a  stencil  on  not 
very  good  paper  -  -  born  of  a  soldier's  half -jocular  re- 
quest for  "  a  little  news  once  in  a  while  from  God's 
country." 

But  it  was  read  with  homesick  eagerness  at  every  Ameri- 
can Military  Camp  and  Naval  Base  in  Great  Britain. 
It  was  posted  on  the  bulletin  boards  of  ships  and  rest 
camps,  of  hospitals,  and  Red  Cross  stations  everywhere, 
even  on  the  rugged  Ninth  Century  wall  of  the  Parish 
Church  at  Immingham,  in  England,  where  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers  worshipped  before  embarking  for  America  in  the 
Mayflower.  It  was  read  aloud  to  hundreds  of  sick  and 
wounded  men  in  their  hospital  cots  and  tucked  into  count- 
less letters  as  a  souvenir  for  the  "  home  folks '  in  the 
States.  The  fighting  men  and  their  commanders  were  not 
the  only  ones  it  served.  It  went  each  day  to  the  Ameri- 
can Ambassador  in  London,  to  all  the  American  Consuls 


344  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

in  Great  Britain  and  to  the  American  Legations  in  Den- 
mark, Norway,  and  Sweden.  And  who  shall  say  that 
some  one,  even  in  so  high  a  seat,  was  not  interested  to 
know,  now  and  then;  the  result  of  a  "  double  header ' '  at 
home  ? 

How  well  it  served  the  soldiers'  needs  is  betokened  in 
scores  of  letters  received  from  officers  and  men  in  camps 
and  hospitals  throughout  Great  Britain.  An  officer  at  one 
of  the  camps  was  so  emphatic  about  the  success  of  the 
publication  that  he  wrote  to  the  Director  of  Informa- 
tion: 

"If  this  Bulletin  is  discontinued  you  will  be  court-martialed 
and  shot !  '• 

In  order  that  the  delivery  of  the  Bulletin  might  be  un- 
failingly made  in  the  great  areas  about  Southampton  and 
Winchester,  where  there  were  at  one  time  not  less  than 
25,000  American  troops,  it  was  placed  on  a  fast  train 
at  noon  every  day  which  made  the  run  to  Southampton  in 
an  hour  and  a  half.  Arriving  there  at  half-past  1  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  the  bundles  were  caught  up  by  a  man 
on  a  motorcycle,  who  covered  his  long  route  at  top  speed 
so  that  all  the  Bulletins  were  in  the  hands  of  the  soldiers 
before  6  o'clock  in  the  evening. 

It  was  obviously  impossible  to  effect  such  distribution 
universally,  but  well  within  two  days  the  Daily  Bulletin 
had  borne  its  "  home  news  ?  to  the  men  of  the  United 
States  Destroyer  Flotilla,  at  Queenstown  in  Ireland;  to 
Scapa  Flow,  in  the  bleak  Orkneys  north  of  Scotland,  where 
the  American  Battle  Squadron  No.  6  was  joined  with  the 
British  Grand  Fleet  ;•  to  Rossyth,  on  the  east  coast  of  Scot- 
land, the  port  of  the  American  cruiser  fleet;  to  the  U.  S. 
Naval  Base  Hospital  at  Strathpeffer,  in  the  Highlands 
and  to  Inverness,  the  American  mine  laying  base  on  the 
eastern  coast. 

In  its  larger  size,  the  Daily  Bulletin  was  enabled  to  make 
a  feature  of  such  soul-stirring  news  as  the  World  Series 


A  SOLDIER'S  JOKE  — AND  WHAT  CAME  OF  IT!      345 

games  of  September,  1918,  between  Chicago  and  Boston. 
It  published  a  prefatory  resume  of  each  game  with  a 
complete  "  box  score '  appended.  And,  of  course, 
throughout  the  season  it  featured  all  the  results  of  the 
National  and  American  Leagues.  In  the  autumn  it  gave 
the  college  football  scores,  with  brief  comment  on  the 
games,  not  infrequently  listing  in  a  Sunday  issue  as  many 
as  twenty-eight  games  played  in  America  the  day  before. 
All  important  political  events  were  presented  to  its  readers, 
even  if  such  events  were  only  of  importance  in  the  smaller 
communities.  Sporting  news  -  -  racing,  boxing,  golf, 
hockey,  tennis  and  field  and  track  athletics  -  -  was  fur- 
nished in  such  detail  as  space  permitted.  Then,  too,  there 
were  condensed  reports  from  the  several  battlefronts  as  the 
events  there  concerned  the  American  forces  and  almost 
daily  news  of  the  American  Navy  in  European  waters. 
The  progress  of  the  Liberty  Loan,  and  of  ship  building  and 
agriculture  in  the  United  States  were  related  whenever 
they  came  forward  in  the  stupendous  history  America 
was  making. 

Now  and  then  the  Daily  Bulletin  was  a  worthy  com- 
petitor of  the  press  of  London,  notably  on  November  llth, 
1918,  when  in  the  issue  for  that  day  appeared  the  follow- 
ing: 

A  phone  message  just  received  from  the  United  States  Com- 
mittee on  Public  Information  said  that  the  Armistice  was  signed 
by  Germany  early  this  (Monday)  morning  and  that  hostilities 
ceased  at  11  o'clock. 

Not  one  newspaper  in  London  "  beat '  the  Bulletin  on 
that  because  an  "  edition '  was  issued,  the  instant  the 
news  arrived  and  the  little  Red  Cross  journal  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  American  soldiers  in  the  city  as  London's 
elderly,  lugubrious-looking  newspaper  vendors  appeared 
with  their  armfuls  of  papers. 

And  the  Bulletin  was  equally  prompt  just  the  day  be- 
fore, November  10,  with  the  announcement  that  the  Kaiser 


346  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

had  abdicated  and  that  the  Crown  Prince  had  renounced 
his  right  to  the  succession. 

In  its  publication  of  battle  news  the  Bulletin  could 
invariably  "  beat '  the  London  papers.  Such  news  was 
given  out  each  day  at  noon  at  the  British  War  Office  in 
Whitehall  and  not  more  than  half  an  hour  later  the  Ameri- 
can news  had  been  selected,  printed  in  the  Bulletin  and 
the  distribution  begun.  By  that  time  the  London  papers 
were  just  setting  it  up. 

One  melancholy  paragraph  in  each  issue  was  devoted 
to  an  enumeration  of  "  Deaths  in  America  yesterday." 
Singularly  enough,  this  was  generally  considered  one  of 
the  most  valuable  services  rendered  by  the  publication,  as 
it  was  a  comprehensive  necrologies!  record  of  important 
personages  throughout  the  Nation. 

There  was  never  the  least  doubt,  from  the  very  begin- 
ning, that  the  Bulletin  was  read,  line  by  line.  Requests 
for  further  information  upon  published  news  were  con- 
stantly received  from  the  camps.  Delay  in  the  receipt  of 
complete  returns  of  the  November,  1918,  elections  in 
America  brought  in  a  flood  of  letters,  and  in  answer  to 
them  a  special  two-page  edition  of  the  Bulletin  was  issued 
on  November  7  giving  the  final  official  results.  Every 
effort  was  made  to  comply  with  the  soldiers'  requests, 
whatever  labor  it  involved.  When  a  man  in  the  Win- 
chester camp  asked  for  the  name  of  the  Senator  who 
had  been  appointed  by  the  Governor  of  South  Carolina 
to  succeed  Ben  Tillman,  it  was  necessary  to  cable  to 
Washington  for  the  information.  But  in  two  days  the 
answer  came  back  and  was  duly  included  in  the  Bulletins 
news. 

Another  instance  of  the  closeness  with  which  the  little 
paper  was  read  became  evident  the  day  after  the  publi- 
cation of  an  item  relating  the  occurrence  of  a  $30,000 
fire  in  the  business  district  of  Marchmont.  The  cable 
had  not  transmitted  the  name  of  the  State,  so  on  the 


A  SOLDIER'S  JOKE --AND  WHAT  CAME  OF  IT!      347 

following  day  the  Bulletin  received  six  letters  from  men 
hailing  from  six  Marchmonts  in  six  different  States,  each 

O  f 

asking  whether  it  was  his  particular  Marchmont. 

During  the  period  of  America's  maximum  military 
activities  in  Great  Britain,  the  daily  issue  of  the  Bulletin 
ran,  not  infrequently,  to  eight  thousand  copies.  And 
whenever  a  convoy  of  American  troops  reached  English 
waters,  a  special  edition  of  that  day's  Bulletin  was  printed, 
dispatched  by  camion  with  the  canteen  supplies,  and  a  copy 
given  to  each  soldier  as  he  came  ashore.  As  many  as  five 
thousand  copies  were  often  thus  distributed  in  one  day. 

The  soldiers'  appreciation  of  this  was  very  keen  and 
very  prompt,  because  it  was  the  first  news  of  America 
that  they  had  had  for  nearly  two  weeks.  And  they  gave 
as  much  attention  to  their  Bulletins  as  they  did  to  the 
hot  colfee,  buns,  chocolate  and  cigarettes  they  were  re- 
ceiving from  the  canteen  workers.  It  required  no  end  of 
skill  to  hold  a  tin  cup  of  coffee,  a  bun,  a  bar  of  chocolate, 
and  a  Bulletin  and  read  and  eat  and  talk  at  one  and  the 
same  time,  but  thousands  of  American  troops  did  it.  If 
a  recording  phonograph  could  have  been  set  up  beside  any 
one  of  the  groups  of  men  who  had  passed  through  the  can- 
teen ceremony,  the  disc  would  have  delivered  to  posterity 
something  of  this  kind : 

"  Hey,  Bo,  come  across  with  a  quarter ;  the  Giants 
finished  'way  ahead  of  Cincinnati  —  there  it  is,  see  it  ? 
-  right  at  the  top  of  the  page  -  -  that  stun7  about  the 
Georgia  peach  crop  —  cut  it,  kid,  my  mouth's  watering  - 
say,  the  Fritzies  are  on  the  run  all  right  -  -  go  ask  her  your- 
self, she'll  give  you  another  cup  -  -  that  Jack  Dempsey 
cert'n'y  packs  the  wallop  -  -  he  put  Levinsky  out  of  busi- 
ness in  the  third  —  you  guys  keep  still,  there's  a  fellow 
just  died  out  in  Des  Moines  -  -  I'll  give  you  my  chocolate 
for  your  cigarettes.  Say,  get  this:  Ty  Cobb's  a  captain 
in  the  army  -  -  Look  out,  you're  spilling  that  all  over  me  — 
if  you  can't  drink  it,  give  it  to  me  -  -  Gee,  there's  been  a 


348  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

big  fire  out  in  my  home  town !  —  fifteen  thousand  dollars 
gone  up  —  that's  all  right,  Shorty,  forget  it,  it  wasn't 
yours !  ' 

Many  of  the  news  paragraphs  which  made  the  Bulletin 
valuable  to  the  troops  would  have  brought  delight  (and 
probably  had)  to  the  heart  of  many  a  country  editor. 
While,  so  far  as  the  writer  can  find,  there  was  never  a 
reference  to  Cy  Higgins'  red  heifer  nor  to  Squire  Hoi- 
comb's  prize-winning  pumpkin,  the  Bulletin  did  give  to  an 
eager  audience  such  paragraphs  as  these,  which  have  been 
taken  at  random  from  its  imperishable  files: 

LARAMIE,  WYO.,  July  21  —  Oil  has  been  struck  at  Bock  Creek, 
45  miles  northwest  of  here. 

SARATOGA  SPRINGS,  July  29  —  Chauncey  Olcott  celebrated  his 
61st  birthday  by  making  a  series  of  patriotic  speeches. 

FROSTBURG,  MD.,  Aug.  3  —  The  fire  which  has  been  raging  for 
many  years  in  the  "  Burning  Mine  "  near  Vale  Summit  was  put 
out  to-day. 

EOCHESTER,  N.  Y.,  Aug.  19  —  Kate  Gleason,  daughter  of 
James  Gleason,  a  wealthy  manufacturer,  has  been  elected  Presi- 
dent of  the  First  National  Bank  of  East  Rochester. 

ELYRIA,  O.,  Sept.  14  —  A  baby  boy  left  on  the  doorstep  of  the 
Memorial  Hospital  here  has  been  named  Woodrow  Foch  Per- 
shing  by  the  nurses  who  declared  that  the  baby  was  entitled  to 
a  good,  up-to-date  name. 

BILOXI,  Miss.,  Oct.  15  —  A  local  fisherman  to-day  captured  a 
devil  fish  weighing  1,700  pounds.  It  measured  thirteen  feet. 
He  caught  it  in  a  trawl  net  near  Deer  Island.  It  required 
three  motor-boats  to  haul  it  into  port. 

JEROME,  ARIZ.,  Oct.  16  —  A  bond  issue  of  $100,000  was  ap- 
proved to-day  for  building  a  new  City  Hall  and  making  im- 
provements to  the  fire,  sewer,  and  road  system. 

BOSTON,  Nov.  2  —  Nicholas  Boland,  for  many  years  head 
porter  of  the  Adams  House,  died  here  to-day,  leaving  an  estate 
of  $50,000,  a  large  part  of  which  goes  to  charity. 

SEATTLE,  Nov.  14  —  The  town  of  Berlin,  40  miles  from  Seattle, 
celebrated  the  signing  of  the  Armistice  by  changing  its  name 
to  "  Miller  River." 

HALF  MOON  BAY,  CAL.,  Nov.  19  —  John  Pitcher,  92  years  old, 
has  been  reflected  Justice  of  the  Peace,  an  office  he  has  held 
for  35  years. 

BRISTOL,  TEN.,  Nov.  22  —  A  fire  which  started  in  the  base- 


A  SOLDIER'S  JOKE --AND  WHAT  CAME  OF  IT!      349 

ment  of  Dossers  Bros.  Department  store  destroyed  property 
worth  $750,000. 

SAGINAW,  MICH.,  Dec.  17  —  Diamonds  valued  at  thousands  of 
dollars  were  stolen  from  the  T.  Loney  Stores  in  daylight.  The 
thief  was  a  prospective  customer  who  dashed  out  in  the  absence 
of  the  clerk  and  has  not  been  captured. 

ORLEANS,  CAL.,  Dec.  19  -  -  Mary  Dupen,  the  oldest  Indian,  is 
dead  here  at  the  age  of  115. 

SHERIDAN,  WYO.,  Dec.  24  —  Granney  and  Gardner,  the  two 
newly  elected  State  Senators  from  this  district,  will  shoot  craps 
to  decide  which  gets  the  four  year  term  and  which  the  two  year 
term. 

CHICAGO,  Jan.  8  —  William  Wrigley,  the  millionaire  gum  man- 
ufacturer, to-day  took  out  an  insurance  policy  for  $1,000,000. 

VERONA,  N.  J.,  Jan.  16  —  A  bob-tailed  wild  cat,  the  first  seen 
in  Essex  county  for  50  years,  entered  the  village  last  night,  kill- 
ing several  chickens  and  arousing  the  whole  town. 

ITHACA,  Jan.  23  —  Hard  Cider  was  officially  classed  as 
"  alcoholic  liquor "  here  to-day  when  the  police  seized  100 
gallons  in  raids  on  sixteen  local  stores. 

The  interest  the  Bulletin  created  among  the  soldiers  ex- 
tended even  to  the  staid  British  press  which  was  frank  in 
admiration  of  its  enterprise,  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette  of  Oc- 
tober 3,  1918,  adding  its  voice  in  the  following  paragraph : 

"  The  Daily  Bulletin  issued  under  the  direction  of  Captain 
America  certainly  helps  to  make  the  fighters  from  across  the 
sea  feel  at  home  in  Britain,  keeping  them  au  courant  of  just 
the  American  news  in  which  they  are  most  interested." 

As  a  purveyor  of  "  home  news,"  the  Bulletin  was  in 
equal  favor  with  the  highest  officers  in  the  United  States 
military  establishment  in  England,  who  found  it  upon 
their  desks  every  day  and  read  it  as  religiously  as  they 
did  their  mail.  Major  General  John  Biddle,  Command- 
ing the  American  Forces  in  Great  Britain,  whose  Head- 
quarters in  the  Grosvenor  Mansions  in  London  faced  the 
Red  Cross  Headquarters,  said  that  the  Bulletin  '  did 
more  than  any  other  one  thing  to  keep  the  Red  Cross  be- 
fore the  men,"  and  if,  by  mischance,  the  day's  issue  was 
late  in  reaching  either  him  or  one  of  the  members  of  his 
numerous  staff,  the  telephone  would  ring  with  an  inquiry 


350  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

for  it,  or  an  orderly  present  himself  with  General  This's 
or  Colonel  That's  compliments  to  say  that  he  had  not  yet 
received  his  usual  copy. 

Such  popularity  as  this  made  necessary  the  continua- 
tion of  the  Bulletin  long  after  the  cessation  of  hostilities 
and,  indeed  until  most  of  the  Red  Cross  work  had  come 
to  an  end  and  all  save  a  small  part  of  the  American  forces 
had  sailed  for  home. 

THE    WEEKLY    BULLETIN 

The  younger  but  far  more  pretentious  brother  of  the 
Daily  Bulletin  was  the  Weekly  Bulletin.  This  came  into 
being  on  August  7,  1918,  as  an  eight-page  illustrated 
journal,  decidedly  "  cityfied '  in  its  dress  of  paper,  type 
and  reproduced  photographs.  That  it  was  intended  to  be 
a  very  different  sort  of  person  from  its  "  small  town J 
relative  was  announced  in  the  greeting  addressed  "  To  All 
Red  Cross  Workers  "  in  the  first  number: 

"  This  is  going  to  be  a  little  newspaper  of  our  own.  Whether 
it  will  be  a  little  newspaper  or  a  paper  of  little  news  will  de- 
pend on  you.  The  purpose  of  the  Bulletin,,  which  will  be  issued 
at  regular  intervals,  is  to  acquaint  the  workers  in  various  dis- 
tricts with  what  is  going  on  in  other  districts  and  other  de- 
partments." 

Following  this  came  a  plea  to  the  workers  to  send  in 
"  copy '  and  photographs  on  anything  of  news  interest 
which  came  within  their  ken. 

The  rearing  of  this  youngster  was  entrusted  to  Lieu- 
tenant Charles  D.  Morris,  Yale  '05,  who  also  came  into 
the  Red  Cross  after  extensive  newspaper  experience,  first 
on  the  Sun  in  New  York  and  then  in  the  Associated 
Press  Bureaus  of  New  York  and  London. 

As  the  Weekly  was  designed  for  distribution  simply 
among  the  Red  Cross  personnel  in  England,  France,  and 
America,  it  achieved  no  such  publication  as  the  Daily. 


A  SOLDIER'S  JOKE  — AND  WHAT  CAME  OF  IT!      351 

But  its  circulation  rose  to  2,500  a  week  and  there  re- 
mained until  it  was  discontinued,  owing  to  the  closing 
down  of  Red  Cross  work,  the  last  issue,  Xo.  20,  bearing 
date  of  December  18,  1918. 

During  its  life  it  did  valuable  service  in  the  reading 
rooms  of  rest  camps  and  hospitals  and  was  widely  quoted 
in  the  British  press,  which  frequently  published  its  stories 
and  articles  in  full.  This  was  particularly  true  of  such 
important  London  newspapers  as  the  Times,  Morning 
Post,  Daily  Telegraph,  Daily  News,  Daily  Graphic,  and 
Sunday  Times.  It  was  sent  to  all  the  Red  Cross  Chapters 
in  America  which,  in  turn,  reprinted  in  their  weekly 
bulletins  such  articles  as  were  of  interest  to  their  own 
circle  of  readers. 

According  to  regulations,  the  proof-sheets  of  each 
Weekly  Bulletin  had  to  be  submitted  to  the  Censor  be- 
fore publication,  but  not  once  did  his  searching  blue 
pencil  delete  a  word.  That  he  read  it  was  evident  from 
the  marks  his  pencil  made  when  he  reread  a  particular 
passage  in  fear  that  something  might  be  wrong  with  it. 
But  there  never  was.  As  Morris  himself  remarked,  "  As 
a  newspaper  man  I  have  battled  too  often  with  the  Censor 
not  to  know  what  to  leave  in  a  story  and  what  to  take  out 
before  it  ever  got  into  his  hands." 

The  articles  which  appeared  in  the  Weekly,  many 
written  by  skilled  hands,  many  more  by  persons  who, 
until  impelled  by  the  sheer  humanity  of  some  bit  of  work, 
had  never  tried  to  write, —  these  articles  graphically  re- 
cited much  of  the  history  of  the  Red  Cross  in  Great 
Britain.  They  touched  upon  practically  every  phase  of 
its  activity  and,  in  many  instances,  gave  the  reader  the 
visualizing  aid  of  photographs.  And  too  much  cannot  be 
said  in  appreciation  of  countless  articles  which,  perhaps 
relating  ever  so  briefly  the  personal  side  of  Red  Cross 
work,  reached  deep  into  the  reader's  heart. 

The  reasonable  limits  of  this  chapter  render  it  impos- 


352  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

sible  to  reprint  here  the  many  articles  which  have  appealed 
to  the  present  writer,  but  there  are  two  upon  which  he 
insists : 

The  first  one  was  republished  in  several  London  news- 
papers and  attracted  attention  in  America  also.  In  the 
day  of  its  appearance,  November  20,  1918,  the  Censor 
would  have  forbidden  mention  of  the  location  of  the  Ger- 
man prison  camp  about  which  the  story  centers.  But  it 
may  be  said  now  that  it  was  at  Dartford,  only  a  few  hun- 
dred yards  from  the  U.  S.  Base  Hospital  whose  Armistice 
Day  celebration  has  been  related.  In  this  prison  camp 
there  were  1,200  prisoners  under  the  care  of  twenty 
American  Army  Surgeons. 

WHY  GERMANY  HATES  THE  KED  CROSS. 

Officer  Prisoner  Says  It  Has  Helped  Break  German  Spirit. 
By  ALICE  LEONE  FLEENOR,  SAN  FRANCISCO. 

A  few  days  ago  I  visited  a  German  Hospital  Prison  Camp  in 
England.  In  one  ward  I  found  a  Prussian  officer  who  had 
been  captured  two  days  before  on  the  Flanders  front. 

While  the  nurse  was  explaining  his  injury  to  me  I  noticed  that 
the  German  was  glaring  at  the  Red  Cross  on  my  shoulder  strap. 

As  I  was  about  to  turn  away  the  patient  muttered: 

"I  hate  dot  Red  Cross;  I  hate  it/' 

"  Why  should  you  hate  the  organization  which  saved  your 
life  ? '  I  asked,  for  I  was  frankly  puzzled  by  the  Prussian 
officer's  evident  animosity. 

"  Vy,  vy,  for  dis  reason,"  responded  the  oberleutnant,  raising 
himself  higher  while  his  eyes  flashed.  "  I  hate  dot  Red  Cross 
because  it  has  broken  the  brave  spirit  of  the  German  peoples." 

For  fifteen  minutes  the  officer  continued  to  describe  the 
offenses  of  the  American  Red  Cross  in  Germany. 

As  I  listened  to  him  I  began  to  realize  that  the  American  Red 
Cross  had  been  one  of  the  most  potent  factors  in  the  breaking 
down  of  the  morale  of  the  military  and  civilian  populations  of 
Germany.  This  work  was  accomplished  by  our  Red  Cross  un- 
consciously. Yet  it  has  been  done  and  done  well.  This  is  what 
the  German  officer  revealed  to  me: 

Due  to  a  carefully  censored  press  and  a  lack  of  any  outside 
communication,  the  German  people  have  been  kept  in  complete 
ignorance  regarding  the  other  countries  of  the  world.  Mean- 


A  SOLDIER'S  JOKE  — AND  WHAT  CAME  OF  IT!      353 

time  a  steady  system  of  propaganda  calculated  to  deceive  has 
been  operating. 

The  civilians  were  told  that  their  sufferings  were  nothing  as 
compared  to  those  of  the  Allies,  that  America  was  not  entering 
to  any  appreciable  extent  into  the  war,  that  the  American  Red 
Cross  had  practiced  atrocities  against  the  German  prisoners. 

The  people  believed  this  propaganda.  It  had  the  desired  effect 
for  a  time  of  making  them  endure  any  sacrifice.  They  might 
still  believe  much  of  it  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  the  Ameri- 
can Bed  Cross  has  been  quietly  operating  in  the  very  midst 
of  the  German  civilians  as  a  great  existing  proof  of  the  falsity 
of  the  German  propaganda.  It  has  been  the  only  visible  symbol 
of  the  "  Outside-of -Germany  World,"  but  it  has  been  a  power- 
ful one. 

On  the  very  day  that  a  leading  Hamburg  paper  published  an 
article  stating  that  America  would  never  enter  actively  into  the 
war  a  large  group  of  American  prisoners  was  quartered  in  a 
small  town  near  by. 

Immediately  there  was  erected  an  American  Red  Cross  Depot. 
Warm  clothing,  medicine,  food,  and  supplies  of  all  kinds  ar- 
rived in  large  quantities.  The  German  townpeople  came  and 
inspected  the  depot  and  its  great  store  of  supplies.  In  the  face 
of  this  concrete  evidence  it  was  not  strange  that  they  began  to 
wonder  whether  America  did  lack  supplies  or  did  intend  only  to 
act  as  a  figurehead  in  the  war. 

On  another  occasion  the  Berlin  Tageblatt  published  an  en- 
tire column  in  justification  of  the  bombing  of  Red  Cross  hospi- 
tals, the  sinking  of  Red  Cross  ships,  and  firing  upon  Red  Cross 
stretcher-bearers.  The  Tageblatt  told  of  the  inhumanity  of 
the  Allied  and  American  Red  Cross  in  mistreating  German 
prisoners,  in  starving  them  and  denying  them  medical  attention. 

Next  day  a  group  of  more  than  500  Germans  who  had  been 
cared  for  in  the  American  and  Allied  Red  Cross  hospitals  were 
returned  to  their  homes  in  Germany.  They  told  of  clean  hos- 
pitals, expert  surgeons,  good  food,  and  kind  treatment.  The 
German  people  began  to  ask  questions. 

Once  they  questioned  the  statement  of  their  government  and 
their  Press,  the  supreme  confidence  of  the  German  civilian 
population  was  shaken,  for  people  began  to  think  for  themselves. 

The  German  oberleutnant  hated  the  Red  Cross  for  dem- 
onstrating the  truth  concerning  America  to  his  people.  We  are 
proud  of  it  for  the  same  reason. 

Copies  of  the  Weekly  containing  this  article  marked 
were  distributed  in  London  to  more  than  300  American 


354  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

soldiers  who  had  just  come  from  prison  camps  in  Ger- 
many. Many  of  them  vouched  for  the  truth  of  what  the 
Prussian  officer  had  said,  that  the  stores  of  American 
Red  Cross  supplies  in  the  prison  towns  had  convinced  the 
German  people  that  the  Allies  were  far  from  needing  food- 
stuffs as  their  desperate  leaders  had  told  them. 

As  for  the  second  one: 

A  convalescent  American  soldier  came  into  Stratford 
Lodge,  the  Red  Cross  Rest  Room,  at  Portsmouth,  one 
November  afternoon.  He  had  come  from  the  U.  S.  Base 
Hospital  there  in  search  of  an  hour's  diversion.  From 
one  of  the  tables  he  picked  up  a  copy  of  the  Weekly 
Bulletin  and  sat  down  by  the  fire  to  read  it.  When  he  had 
gone  through  all  its  eight  pages  he  went  to  the  writing 
table  and  was  intently  busy  there  for  more  than  half  an 
hour.  At  last  he  got  up,  and  approaching  one  of  the 
Red  Cross  workers  said,  with  a  smile  of  embarrassment, 
as  he  held  out  several  closely  written  pages: 

"  Here's  something  you  might  like  to  have  for  your 
Bulletin.  It's  about  some  Red  Cross  work  our  boys  did 
in  France." 

And  with  that  he  turned  and  hurried  out,  without  giv- 
ing his  name  or  saying  a  further  word  about  himself. 
But  what  he  wrote  was  published  in  the  Bulletin  for  No- 
vember 27,  with  the  title  "  In  a  French  Village, —  Why 
the  people  of  Milancourt  love  the  American  soldiers." 
It  seems  a  pity  that  its  author  should  not  be  known. 

There  is  a  little  village  in  France  that  will  always  remember 
and  love  the  American  soldiers.  I  dont  think  I  am  breaking 
the  Censor's  rules  if  I  tell  you  its  name.  It  is  Milancourt,  a 
little  hamlet  on  the  Somme,  about  three  miles  from  Abbeville. 

It  was  last  June  when  a  battalion  from  a  certain  New  York 
regiment  was  billeted  there.  They  were  the  first  American  sol- 
diers that  the  people  of  Milancourt  had  ever  seen.  The  men 
themselves  had  arrived  from  ll  God's  Country  "  only  a  few  days 
before,  and  after  a  long  sea  trip  it  was  deemed  that  eight  hours' 
drill  a  day  with  a  heavy  pack,  under  the  broiling  sun  of 
northern  France,  would  bring  them  into  splendid  condition 
again  in  a  few  weeks. 


A  SOLDIER'S  JOKE --AND  WHAT  CAME  OF  IT!      355 

The  work  was  hard,  but  those  boys  knew  what  they  were  train- 
ing for.  They  knew  that  the  end  of  each  day  brought  them 
nearer  to  the  line  where  the  fighting  was,  and  so  they  took  to 
the  long  hikes  and  the  gruelling  bayonet  drills  without  a 
murmur. 

One  would  have  thought  that  every  man,  once  his  long  day's 
work  was  over,  would  straightway  seek  his  bunk.  But  not  these 
boys.  That  is,  not  right  away.  You  ^  see,  the  boys  were  all 
billeted  in  little  farm-houses.  Each  farm-house  had  its  little 
plot  of  land,  and  as  the  men  had  all  gone  to  the  war  the  women 
had  to  do  all  the  work,  assisted  by  the  little  boys  and  girls. 
It  was  hard  work  for  these  people,  and  the  sight  of  the  women 
and  children  toiling  early  and  late  in  the  fields  brought  the 
war  home  to  the  young  American  soldiers  as  nothing  else  had 
done. 

And  so  each  day,  after  their  long  drill  was  over,  the  Ameri- 
cans devoted  themselves  to  what  they  used  to  call  their  Red 
Cross  work.  They  went  out  into  the  fields  with  hoes  and  shovels 
and  rakes,  or  plowed  and  sowed  or  took  in  the  crops,  while  the 
good  French  mothers  stood  around  in  smiling  surprise  and 
astonishment  and  pleasure  and  supervised  the  job. 

Pay?  Talk  pay  to  any  of  those  boys  and  it  meant  fight! 
They  were  more  than  compensated  in  just  knowing  that  they 
were  helping  a  people  who  were  throwing  their  every  energy 
into  a  fight  for  everything  in  the  world  worth  fighting  for. 

And  the  children?  Is  there  anybody  in  the  world  who  gets 
along  so  well  with  children  as  the  American  soldier?  Eight- 
year-old  Morel  was  one  of  the  favorites  among  the  children  of 
Milancourt.  When  Morel  would  ask,  as  an  aeroplane  flew 
overhead,  "  Eees  eet  le  Boche  ? ' '  the  soldier  to  whom  the  ques- 
tion was  put  would  dig  his  rake  in  the  ground  all  the  harder 
and  reply,  "  Not  on  your  life,  sonny ;  they'll  never  get  this  far ! 

And  so  they  worked  on  day  after  day  at  their  "  Red  Cross 
work,"  far  into  the  evening,  until  it  was  too  dark  to  see.  And 
the  French  people,  the  old  men  and  the  women  and  the  little 
children  were  never  tired  of  talking  of  the  "  bon  "  Americans. 

When  the  day  came  for  the  battalion  to  leave  for  its  next  post, 
many  miles  up  toward  the  front,  the  village  folk  followed  the 
marchers  to  the  outskirts  of  the  village  and  gave  them  farewell 
presents  of  food  and  wine,  and  bade  them  a  God-speed  and  a  safe 
return. 

Yes,  these  boys  will  be  remembered  for  many  a  long  year  in 
Milancourt.  Some  of  them  will  never  return,  but  those  who 
are  left  will  go  back  to  the  little  French  village  on  a  visit  one 
day,  and  it  will  be  a  great  reunion. 


356  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

The  "  star '  number  of  the  Weekly  was  perhaps  that 
for  October  23  which  gave,  among  other  things,  extended 
narrations  of  the  work  on  the  barren  shores  of  Islay,  the 
Scotch  island,  where  the  Eed  Cross  succored  the  sur- 
vivors and  buried  the  dead  of  the  wrecked  troopship 
Otranto.  Requests  for  copies  of  this  issue  were  numerous 
and  came  even  from  far  distant  India. 


CHAPTEK  XXI 

THE  PICTURE'S  THE  THING! 

RECOGNITION  of  man's  immemorial  love  of  pic- 
tures, no  less  than  the  intent  to  compile  a  per- 
manent, graphic  record  of  activity  and  achievement,  made 
photography  an  important  branch  of  the  Commission's 
work  in  Great  Britain.  And  it  was  only  natural  that  the 
taking  of  moving  pictures  became  a  vital  part  of  this 
work.  Snapshots  or  time  exposures  of  persons  or  events, 
however  distinguished,  in  short,  the  entire  range  of  camera 
pictures  which  the  "  movie '  operater  refers  to  rather 
contemptuously  as  "  stills,"  reach  a  comparatively  small 
audience.  On  the  other  hand,  the  cinema  film,  capable  of 
infinite  reproduction,  is  sent  broadcast  over  a  country  and 
flashed  on  a  thousand  screens,  before  a  million  people  in 
a  single  night. 

In  its  photographic  accomplishments,  the  Department 
of  Information  of  the  British  Commission  was  eminently 
successful.  The  "  movie '  results  it  obtained  under 
autumn  and  winter  weather  conditions  in  England  — 
which  would  blast  the  life  of  a  Los  Angeles  "  camera  man  ' 
—  were  often  miraculous.  And  the  millions  of  Americans 
who  viewed  these  results  in  their  favorite  cinema  houses 
at  home  never  knew  of  the  dread  with  which  the  Red  Cross 
operator  carried  his  film  box  into  the  dark  room  nor  how 
anxiously  he  watched  his  pictures  come  to  life  in  the 
ruthless  developer. 

Upon  one  memorable  occasion  the  anxiety  was  shifted 
in  all  its  might  to  the  shoulders  of  a  Red  Cross  em- 
ployee in  a  dark  room  in  distant  America.  There  were 

two  reasons  for  this;  one,  that  the  film  portrayed  Presi- 

357 


358  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

dent  Wilson's  arrival  in  London  and  his  reception  by 
King  George ;  the  other  that  it  enabled  the  American  Red 
Cross  to  exhibit  the  pictures  to  the  people  of  America 
several  days  before  any  rival  films  of  this  historic  scene 
reached  the  United  States. 

The  American  Red  Cross  had  been  informed  of  the 
time  of  Mr.  Wilson's  arrival  and,  in  order  to  take  the 
pictures,  had  armed  itself  well  in  advance  with  the  several 
and  particular  documents  required  by  the  British  Foreign 
Office  and  other  governmental  or  military  bureaus.  This 
was  accomplished  through  the  American  Embassy  and 
consumed  three  days  as  the  permits  underwent  no  end 
of  signing,  sealing,  and  countersigning.  Among  them, 
and  all-powerful  in  such  a  circumstance,  was  a  simple 
white  card  bearing  solely  the  cryptic  legend: 

BOARD  OF  THE  GREEN"  CLOTH 

but  it  was  signed  by  Viscount  Farquhar,  Lord  Stewart  of 
the  King's  Household,  and  it  did  what  the  other  imposing 
documents  could  not  do  —  it  opened  the  gates  of  Buck- 
ingham Palace  to  the  Red  Cross  operator. 

The  coming  of  the  President  filled  London's  streets 
with  one  of  'the  greatest  crowds  the  city  had  ever  known. 
At  Charing  Cross,  the  railway  station  by  which  he  ar- 
rived from  Dover  and  where  he  was  met  by  King  George 
and  Queen  Mary  and  their  suite,  and  along  the  path  of 
the  subsequent  procession  to  Buckingham  Palace,  the 
people  were  massed  with  the  determined  compactness  of  a 
swarm  of  bees.  To  prevail  against  this  crowd,  it  had  been 
arranged  that  the  Red  Cross  "  movie  man '  should 
"  shoot '  from  the  top  of  a  Red  Cross  motor,  but  at  the 
last  minute  the  car  was  commandeered  by  some  Ameri- 
can general  and  a  very  unofficial  looking  taxicab  had  to  be 
employed.  The  operator,  however,  fortified  with  his 
documents,  managed  to  get  it  through  the  crush  to  an.  ad- 
mirable vantage  point. 


THE  PICTURE'S  THE  THING!  359 

Mr.  Wilson  arrived  at  Charing  Cross  at  1.30  o'clock 
on  the  afternoon  of  December  26,  1918  -  -"  Boxing  Day  ' 

-  and  although  there  were  occasional  flashes  of  sunlight, 
London's  inevitable  mist  hung  in  a  gray  veil  over  every- 
thing. Nevertheless  the  operator  cranked  away  prayer- 
fully until  the  distinguished  party  had  rolled  away  in  the 
State  carriages.  Then,  having  another  taxicab  in  wait- 
ing  in  a  side  street,  because  the  first  one  was  immovable 
in  such  a  crowd,  he  made  his  way  off  by  a  side  exit  and 
went  at  top  speed  for  a  selected  spot  on  the  line  of  march. 
There  he  got  many  more  feet  of  film  of  the  crowd,  and 
decorations  and  then  the  Royal  party  as  it  passed. 

In  the  meantime  the  second  operator,  with  his  little 
"  Board  of  the  Green  Cloth '  card,  had  obtained  a  posi- 
tion inside  the  yard  of  Buckingham  Palace.  And  when 
the  party  arrived  he  was  able  to  get  a  valuable  photo- 
graphic record  of  the  scene.  This  included,  in  addition 
to  the  arrival,  the  inspection  of  the  Guard  of  Honor  by 
the  President  and  King  George,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wilson 
with  the  royal  family  on  the  balcony  of  the  Palace,  with 
an  incidental  "  shot ' '  at  the  crowd  and  at  a  group  of  city 
motor  busses,  the  first  ever  permitted  to  enter  the  Palace 
courtyard,  which  were  filled  with  wounded  American  and 
British  soldiers.  It  was  by  the  King's  own  wish  that 
they  entered  and  it  is  a  pity  that  the  film  could  not  record 
the  noisy  "  Three  cheers  for  the  King !  ' '  which  the  Ameri- 
cans gave  as  he  alighted  from  the  carriage,  although  it  did 
get  the  open  mouths  and  the  waving  of  the  flags. 

The  result  of  the  day's  labors  was  two  boxes  of  precious 
film,  390  feet  devoted  to  the  reception  at  Charing  Cross 
and  400  feet  to  the  arrival  at  Buckingham  Palace.  As 
dispatch  in  getting  this  record  off  to  America  was  the  fore- 
most consideration,  no  attempt  was  made  to  develop  it. 
The  two  boxes  of  films  were  taken  to  a  dark  room  in  Picca- 
dilly, there  hermetically  sealed  in  tin  boxes  and  brought 
to  40  Grosvenor  Gardens.  At  ten  minutes  after  5  o'clock 
next  morning  a  Red  Cross  orderly  took  them  by  fast  train 


360  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

to  Southampton  where  the  troopship  Louisville,  the  old  St. 
Louis  of  the  American  Line,  was  in  readiness  to  cast  off 
for  a  homeward  voyage.  It  was  imperative  that  the  films 
be  placed  aboard  her  as  the  next  ship  to  sail,  the  Lapland, 
would  not  leave  for  five  days.  So  the  orderly  hunted 
out  a  Red  Cross  man  among  the  passengers,  Lieutenant 
John  B.  Martin,  and  gave  him  the  boxes  with  a  letter  of 
instruction  as  to  what  to  do  with  them.  He  immediately 
popped  them  into  a  safe  as  the  ship's  Chief  Surgeon  and 
there  they  remained  until  the  Louisville  came  into  her 
berth  at  New  York.  But  before  she  even  left  Southamp- 
ton, a  cablegram  announced  the  forwarding  of  the  films 
had  gone  to  America  and  a  Red  Cross  representative  was 
duly  on  the  pier  to  receive  them.  Which  is  the  end  of  the 
little  story  of  how  the  Red  Cross  "  scooped  ?  the  profes- 
sional movie  people  when  President  Wilson  came  to 
London. 

Upon  several  other  occasions  during  his  visit,  the  Presi- 
dent was  caught  by  the  cinema  men  of  the  American  Red 
Cross,  notably  when  he  went  to  the  Guildhall  to  receive 
the  freedom  of  the  City  of  London,  but  the  results  were 
not  always  highly  successful.  During  the  autumn  and 
winter  the  climate  of  England  is  an  ever-present  obstacle 
to  the  moving  picture  operator  as  no  lenses  have  ever  been 
devised  capable  of  "  shooting ?  through  its  immemorial 
mist.  For  instance,  when  London  was  so  boisterously  cele- 
brating the  signing  of  the  Armistice,  it  was  a  drizzling 
day  and  many  feet  of  disappointing  film  resulted.  How- 
ever, a  watery  sun  struggled  out  for  a  surprising  half- 
hour  now  and  then  for  the  next  three  or  four  days  and 
as  the  jollification  was  still  going  on,  the  Red  Cross 
managed  to  put  together  a  reel  which  conveyed  a  good  idea 
of  how  London  and  the  American  soldiers  in  London 
hospitals  greeted  the  cessation  of  hostilities. 

The  moving  picture  operators  likewise  made  journeys 
to  all  the  places  in  England  at  which  Red  Cross  activities 
were  in  progress  and  eventually  turned  out  more  than 


THE  PICTURE'S  THE  THING!  361 

fifteen  thousand  feet  of  film  which  were  successfully  de- 
veloped and  hurried  across  the  Atlantic  for  projection 
throughout  the  States. 

A  short  time  before  Christmas  the  Red  Cross  gave  an 
exhibition  of  its  films  in  London  and  as  these  antedated 
the  President's  arrival,  the  pictures  which  attracted  most 
attention  were  those  depicting  the  visit  of  the  King  and 
Queen  to  the  American  wounded  at  Dartford  hospital,  the 
scenes  of  Armistice  Day  there,  including  the  sham 
battle,  staged  in  celebration  by  the  men  of  the  Twenty- 
seventh  Division  to  show  "  How  we  broke  the  Hindenburg 
Line/'  and  the  record  of  the  tour  by  Mr.  Henry  P.  Davi- 
son,  Chairman  of  the  War  Council,  to  the  hospitals  and 
other  centers  in  England  at  which  Red  Cross  activities  were 
in  progress.  Mr.  Davison  was  seen  having  a  "  bite  "  at  the 
Red  Cross  canteen  at  Winchester  Rest  Camp,  reviewing  the 
negro  troops  leaving  the  camp  for  the  front,  chatting  with 
the  wounded  at  Romsey  hospital,  congratulating  an  Amer- 
ican "  V.C."  at  Portsmouth  Hospital  and  inspecting  the 
famous  cows  at  Sarisbury  Court  which  were  a  gift  to  the 
Red  Cross  from  the  farmers  of  the  Channel  Islands.  An- 
other part  of  the  exhibition  portrayed  Major  General  John 
Biddle,  Commanding  the  American  Forces  in  Great 
Britain,  standing  in  a  long  line  of  soldiers,  waiting  his 
turn  to  get  a  Red  Cross  canteen  doughnut  and  a  cup  of 
coffee.  Still  other  parts  were  devoted  to  the  American 
wounded  at  Sarisbury,  the  arrival  of  the  last  convoy  of 
wounded  from  France  with  the  "  Victory  Smile  "  on  their 
faces  in  spite  of  their  hurts,  and  the  first  homeward  bound 
Yankee  troops,  a  picture  taken  in  front  of  the  American 
Red  Cross  "  Dollar  Exchange  "  Station  at  Liverpool  where 
in  one  day  forty  thousand  American  dollars  were  given  in 
exchange  for  the  soldiers'  English  and  French  money. 
The  scenes  of  embarkation  of  American  troops,  at  South- 
ampton, where  they  received  farewell  gifts  from  the  Red 
Cross  were  also  flashed  upon  the  screen.  The  construc- 
tion of  the  hospital  at  Sarisbury  Court,  planned  as  the 


362  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

largest  American  hospital  in  Great  Britain  was  shown, 
supplemented  by  the  Red  Cross  Convalescent  Home  for 
American  nurses  at  Colebrook  Lodge;  Putney,  and  the 
making  of  surgical  dressings  and  hospital  requisites  in  the 
Red  Cross  workrooms  at  No.  32  Grosvenor  Gardens, 
London. 

The  films  indicate  comprehensively  what  the  Red  Cross 
"  movie  '  men  accomplished,  although  they  give  no  hint 
of  the  difficulties  they  encountered.  Among  the  great 
difficulties,  and  quite  aside  from  English  weather,  was  the 
difficulty  of  obtaining  necessary  supplies.  The  task  of 
purchasing  a  moving  picture  outfit  in  the  London  market 
meant  at  least  a  fortnight's  unremitting  search  as  the  War 
Office,  the  Admiralty  or  the  Royal  Air  Force  com- 
mandeered every  camera  it  could  find.  Photographic 
lenses  were  more  precious  than  rubies  and  ordinary 
cameras  were  almost  as  rare  as  roc's  eggs,  wherefore  no  end 
of  ingenuity  was  often  called  into  play  to  take  a  picture 
when  adequate  apparatus  was  unavailable.  As  an  ex- 
ample, a  Red  Cross  camera  man  sought  to  take  a  picture 
from  the  summit  of  a  bleak  Scotch  cliff  which  would  show 
where  the  troopship  Otranto  was  wrecked,  with  the  loss 
of  hundreds  of  American  soldiers.  The  picture  was  of  im- 
portance as  a  part  of  the  pictorial  record  of  the  war,  but  to 
take  it  required  a  high-quality  tele-photo  lens.  But  there 
was  not  one  in  all  England.  The  camera  man  refused  to 
be  daunted  and,  on  the  spot,  rigged  together  the  lenses  from 
three  different  cameras  in  his  kit  and,  by  holding  them  in 
position  with  his  hand,  took  the  picture.  He  made  three 
trials  and  at  last  got  the  only  view  of  the  scene  which  has 
been  taken.  A  copy  from  that  negative  is  now  in  the 
archives  of  the  War  Department  at  Washington. 

The  ordinary  camera  work  of  the  Red  Cross  in  Great 
Britain,  which  was  begun  in  September,  1918,  grew  as 
the  activities  of  the  Commission  broadened.  At  the  outset 
the  number  of  pictures  taken  was  forty-two  a  week,  but 
within  a  short  time  this  had  to  be  increased  to  100,  so 


THE  PICTURE'S  THE  THING!  363 

that  all  branches  of  endeavor  might  be  covered.  The 
"•  still  '  man  was  not  without  his  troubles,  as  the  taking 
of  pictures  was  surrounded  with  war  restrictions  of  every 
kind  and  complexity.  Not  infrequently  it  was  necessary 
that  permits  be  obtained  from  half  a  dozen  different  bureau 
chiefs  to  take  a  single  series  of  photographs.  However, 
when  this  department  was  discontinued  on  January  1, 
1919,  more  than  1,500  photographic  plates  had  been  taken 
and  prints  from  them  forwarded  to  the  United  States.  As 
a  contribution  to  the  permanent  historical  records  of  Na- 
tional Red  Cross  Headquarters,  at  Washington,  more  than 
a  thousand  of  these  photographs  were  selected  and  bound  in 
twelve  large  volumes,  with  a  complete  and  carefully 
written  title  for  each  picture-  -fully  150,000  words  in 
all  -  -  and  dispatched  to  America  from  the  Commission  for 
Great  Britain. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

VALEDICTORY 

IT  is  anomalous  that  war  should  create  and* that  peace 
should  sweep  away,  but  within  a  short  time  after  the 
signing  of  the  Armistice  the  American  Red  Cross  in  Great 
Britain  began,  little  by  little,  to  curtail  its  activities,  to 
close  this  bureau,  then  that,  to  dismantle  the  large  and  ef- 
fective structure  it  had  reared.  The  men  in  hospital  were 
being  sent  back  to  America  as  quickly  as  possible  by  the 
army,  there  were  no  more  transports  to  land  their  adventur- 
ing legions  at  the  water  gates  —  the  purposes  of  war  were 
at  an  end.  And  as  the  wounded  left  by  hundreds  on  the 
homing  ships,  so,  within  a  few  weeks,  the  hospitals  be- 
gan, one  by  one,  to  close  their  doors.  The  army  re- 
linquished all  its  hospitals  save  those  at  Sarisbury  and 
Liverpool,  which  were  kept  open  all  winter,  the  American 
wounded  being  transferred  thither  from  all  the  other  in- 
stitutions, both  American  and  English.  With  the  evacua- 
tion of  so  many  of  them,  the  need  for  canteen  and  recrea- 
tion service  no  longer  existed,  therefore  the  only  places  at 
which  the  Red  Cross  canteens  wTere  maintained  were  the 
docks  —  a  sort  of  valedictory  to  the  passing  columns. 

In  the  work  of  returning  its  men  to  America  the  army 
asked  the  Red  Cross  to  assist  in  the  care  of  them  during 
their  ocean  voyage,  and  it  was  arranged  that  a  large 
quantity  of  Red  Cross  supplies  should  be  carried  on  each 
west-bound  hospital  ship  in  charge  of  a  regularly  assigned 
Red  Cross  officer.  The  soldiers  were  sent  home  in  detach- 
ments of  one  hundred  to  fifteen  hundred,  sometimes  on 
vessels  detailed  exclusively  for  hospital  uses,  but  at  other 
times  they  went  on  the  ordinary  transports  in  which  the 
second  cabin  accommodations  were  usually  allotted  to  them 

364 


VALEDICTORY  365 

alone  and  where,  thus  collected,  they  could  be  under  more 
constant  care  of  the  medical  men  and  nurses. 

The  Red  Cross  officer  detailed  to  such  work  acted  in 
cooperation  with  the  medical  staff.  He  had  an  extensive 
stock  of  supplies  at  hand  which  were  distributed  as  occa- 
sion demanded  to  the  men  in  the  various  "  wards."  The 
supplies  included  comforts  of  all  kinds  and  food  delicacies, 
as  well  as  medical  and  surgical  requisites.  In  many  cases 
the  transports  themselves  were  provided  with  sheets,  pillow 
cases  and  such  articles  of  equipment  from  the  Red  Cross 
warehouses. 

During  the  month  of  December,  eight  huge  transports, 
incuding  the  Leviathan,  sailed  for  home  with  American  sol- 
diers aboard  and  each  of  these  ships  carried  from  $1,500 
to  $10,000  worth  of  Red  Cross  supplies.  The  character 
of  them  is  well  indicated  by  the  following  list  of  articles 
requisitioned  for  the  250  sick  and  wounded  who  sailed 
two  days  before  Christmas  on  the  Mauretania: 

Christmas  trees,  20,000  cigarettes,  5,000  sheets  of  writ- 
ing paper,  2,000  bars  of  chocolate,  2,000  envelopes,  1,000 
handkerchiefs,  1,000  towels,  350  Christmas  boxes,  300 
cakes  of  toilet  soap,  100  tins  of  pipe  tobacco,  50  pipes, 
300  packages  of  chewing  gum,  2  crates  of  oranges,  600 
pounds  of  lemon  drops. 

A  Red  Cross  "  conducting  officer's '  experience,  as  re- 
lated in  a  report  he  forwarded  to  London  after  reaching 
New  York  will  give  a  good  idea  of  the  duties  and  service 
involved  during  a  voyage.  He  wrote : 

"  The  giving  out  of  supplies  is  by  no  means  all  the  serv- 
ice which  a  Red  Cross  conducting  officer  can  render,  nor 
is  it  even  the  most  important  part  of  his  duties.  He  finds 
that  he  is  a  '  factotum '  on  board  and  it  is  his  business  to 
do  those  little  things  which  are  nobody  else's  business.  He 
must  act  as  comrade  and  companion ;  he  must  write  letters 
and  do  Home  Communication  work  of  all  kinds ;  he  must 
answer  all  kinds  of  questions. 

"  I  spent  a  large  part  of  the  first  day  finding  out  ex- 


366  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

actly  what  privileges  the  men  in  the  hospital  section  of 
the  boat  were  entitled  to  under  the  agreement  with  the 
steamship  company.  We  had  820  men  in  our  hospital  con- 
tingent, all  of  them  freshly  evacuated  from  the  hospitals  in 
England.  These  men  were  entitled  to  the  best  of  the 
second  class  quarters,  and  it  was  part  of  the  duty  of  the 
Red  Cross  officer  to  see  that  they  got  it.  The  men  were 
fed  at  the  tables  in  the  second  class  dining  saloon,  except 
for  a  few  cot  cases.  The  food  was  good  and  after  a  little 
Red  Cross  work  it  was  arranged  that  they  should  have 
fruit  with  both  breakfast  and  dinner.  A  sergeant  was  de- 
tailed to  see  that  the  sick  men  received  their  portions  before 
any  of  the  other  second  class  passengers  were  served,  and 
if  there  was  any  shortage  it  was  never  the  sick  men  who 
suffered. 

"  About  thirty  of  the  men  developed  temperatures  dur- 
ing the  first  few  days  out  and  it  was  evident  that  unless 
these  cases  were  promptly  isolated  there  would  be  a  good 
many  contacts  on  the  way  over.  Again  the  Red  Cross  man 
stepped  in  and  helped  to  make  the  men  see  that  it  was  im- 
portant that  a  man  who  appeared  to  be  developing  in- 
fluenza should  go  to  bed  promptly  and  not  endanger  his 
fellow-passengers.  All  the  temperature  cases  were  isolated 
on  the  upper  stern  deck  where  nine  cases  of  mumps  and 
ten  of  pneumonia  were  cared  for  during  the  voyage. 

"  The  pneumonia  cases  did  not  seem  to  be  doing  very- 
well.  The  men  seemed  to  need  special  nourishment  and 
the  Red  Cross  was  able  to  furnish  them  with  a  regular  diet 
of  egg-nog  which  was  of  great  assistance.  The  men  with 
fever  needed  a  bath  every  day  and  in  many  cases  the  order- 
lies were  too  busy  to  see  that  this  was  given  properly.  So 
the  Red  Cross  Aide  took  these  cases  in  hand,  put  the  men 
into  Red  Cross  pajamas,  saw  that  they  were  bathed 
properly  and  kept  them  supplied  with  cool  drinks. 

"  The  Red  Cross  Aide,  a  woman  of  wide  experience,  was 
very  useful  throughout  the  trip.  In  one  case,  that  of  a 
delicate  boy  who  developed  pneumonia,  she  did  more  to 


VALEDICTORY  367 

pull  the  patient  through  the  crisis  of  his  sickness  than  all 
the  doctors  aboard.  The  boy  gave  himself  up  for  lost,  but 
she  brought  back  his  courage  and  his  fighting  spirit,  made 
him  take  nourishment  and  stayed  with  him  until  he  was 
over  the  worst. 

"  The  question  of  supples  for  the  ship  was  very  carefully 
worked  out  before  we  left  Liverpool.  Cigarettes,  under- 
clothing, sweaters,  comfort  kits  and  various  other  things 
were  supplied  in  such  quantities  as  the  Red  Cros  ware- 
house could  spare  and  whenever  there  were  possible  de- 
ficiencies, arrangements  were  made  to  obtain  supplement- 
ary articles  through  the  ship's  canteen. 

"  For  the  distribution  of  such  supplies  as  cigarettes  and 
chocolate,  the  assistance  of  the  non-commissioned  officers 
was  arranged  and  these  officers  also  ascertained  the  exact 
needs  of  their  men  regarding  supplies  of  other  kind,  such 
as  clothing,  so  that  no  man  should  be  in  need  of  anything. 
He  could  make  application  direct  to  his  immediate  non- 
commissioned officer  and  the  latter  could  draw  at  once 
upon  the  Red  Cross  supplies  for  the  required  articles. 

"  The  Red  Cross  found  a  great  deal  of  work  to  be  done 
in  changing  English  money  for  American  dollars,  in  see- 
ing that  the  men  got  good  ventilation  and  in  getting  the 
convalescent  cases  up  on  deck  for  fresh  air.  There  were 
also  a  few  cases  where  small  loans  seemed  advisable,  these 
being  mostly  to  men  who  had  failed  to  receive  their  month's 
pay  before  leaving." 

Another  Red  Cross  officer,  detailed  to  the  Louisville  for 
her  Christmas  voyage,  reported : 

"  We  celebrated  Christmas  on  board  ship  at  Southamp- 
ton just  before  we  sailed.  We  had  excellent  assistance 
from  a  large  party  of  Red  Cross  naval  nurses  aboard. 
There  was  a  Christmas  stocking  for  each  of  the  wounded 
men,  120  in  all,  and  a  Christmas  dinner  which  left  nothing 
to  be  desired.  On  the  way  across  we  found  a  use  for  all 
of  the  125  comfort  kits  allotted  to  us  by  the  Red  Cross 
office  in  Southampton  and  also  for  the  100  Red  Cross 


368  THE  PASSING  LEGIONS 

blankets  which  were  used  for  the  sick  cases.  A  contribu- 
tion of  woolen  goods  from  a  collection  made  by  the  Holy 
Trinity  Church,  Philadelphia,  was  used  on  this  occasion. 
The  oranges  and  lemon  drops  proved  the  greatest  blessing 
that  we  had.  These  were  given  to  the  sick  and  wounded 
in  the  ship's  hospital  and  to  the  sea-sick  men,  and  many  a 
poor  fellow  declared  with  a  pardonable  exaggeration  that 
they  saved  his  life. 

"  On  New  Year's  Eve  we  had  a  repetition  of  Christmas 
Day,  with  gift  packages  for  all  the  men  in  hospital  and 
an  excellent  holiday  dinner. 

"  Practically  all  the  supplies  which  we  carried  were  put 
to  good  use,  including  the  towels,  handkerchiefs,  soap, 
chocolate  and  cigarettes.  These  were  distributed  in  most 
cases  to  each  company  through  the  officers. 

"  The  Red  Cross  was  praised  on  every  hand,  both  by 
the  soldiers  and  officers,  for  its  great  work  during  the  war 
and  on  the  transports  homeward  bound." 

In  many  cases  the  Red  Cross  conducting  officer  intro- 
duced himself  to  the  men  on  board  his  ship  by  means  of  a 
circular  letter,  through  which  he  put  himself  immediately 
at  the  service  of  any  men  who  might  be  in  need  of  the 
services  of  either  the  hospital  and  supplies  department  or 
of  the  home  Communication  Bureau.  Circular  letters  of 
this  kind  were  quite  informal  in  tone  and  strove  to  show  the 
men  not  only  how  the  Red  Cross  could  be  of  help  to  them, 
but  how  they  could  serve  one  another  on  the  homeward 
journey.  Thus,  a  letter  issued  by  the  conducting  officer 
of  the  Baltic  on  one  of  her  hospital  journeys,  said: 

"  To  the  Boys  of  the  Baltic: 

"  Now  that  you  have  put  the  wicked  back  into  their 
places  and  right  and  justice  have  been  re-throned,  you  are 
getting  home  to  receive  the  plaudits  and  gratitude  of  the 
folks  who  have  been  following  you  in  their  thoughts  since 
you  left  them. 

"  We  shall  all  be  together  a  number  of  days  on  the  ship 


VALEDICTORY  369 

and  I  want  to  ask  you  to  resolve  yourselves  into  one  big 
family  and  let  us  all  have  a  good  time  together. 

"  If  each  man  will  help,  we  can  easily  while  away  the 
time  pleasantly  and  profitably  until  the  shores  of  the  great 
land  from  which  we  came  are  in  sight  and  the  voyage  will 
be  a  pleasant  memory  to  all  of  us. 

"  The  American  Red  Cross  hopes  and  believes  it  has 
aided  and  helped  you  since  the  great  call  came.  It  is 
anxious  to  continue  to  be  of  service  on  this  voyage  and  until 
you  are  returned  to  the  loved  homes  from  which  you  came. 

"  To  this  end,  I  want  to  ask  you  to  call  on  me  for  any 
help  I  can  give  you  on  the  voyage.  At  the  same  time  I 
call  on  each  personally  to  help  all  he  can  to  make  this  a 
jolly  good  trip  for  all  on  board  and  one  we  will  always 
look  back  on  with  delightful  remembrance." 


THE    END 


PRINTED   IN    TUB   UNITED    STATES    OT    AMERICA 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
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26 


AUG  27  1943 


LD  21-100m-7,'39(402s; 


YB  21 180 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


